ISO 26000

The ISO 26000 Social Responsibility standard has received massive acceptance from more than 90 countries globally and is expected to set the norm for Social Responsibility in the time to come. DNV can evaluate opportunities for your organisation and provide advice on implementation, communication and monitoring efforts.

Purpose
ISO 26000 is a guidance standard and provides recommendations on Social Responsibility. It will not be a certifiable standard, but rather offer best practices where organisations can adapt the guidelines to their own operation, supply chain and markets.

The standard defines Social Responsibility as the responsibility of an organisation for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society and the environment, through transparent and ethical behaviour that:
• contributes to sustainable development, including health and the welfare of society
• takes into account the expectations of stakeholders
• is in compliance with applicable law and consistent with international norms of behaviour
• is integrated throughout the organisation and practised

The standard is valid for all types of organisations, small and large, governmental, commercial or non-governmental.

Benefits
By implementing ISO 26000 you can optimise your internal processes and assure integration between your management systems and your efforts within social responsibility and sustainability.

As a socially responsible organisation you can improve your relationship with partners, government, the media, suppliers, peers, customers and the community in which you operate.

Risk management is improved as the likelihood of stakeholder conflicts, bad publicity and reputational crises is greatly reduced.

An improved reputation will increase staff morale and the ability to attract and retain workers.

Investors, sponsors and the financial community are also more interested in investing in ethically sound organisations.

Features
The ISO 26000 standard is still under development and is expected to be finalised in late 2010. Its core principles however, are defined and ready. DNV offers a Gap-analysis to identify areas of improvement in your organisation, and provide advice on necessary actions. We also assist in communicating your approach and Social Responsibility results to your stakeholders.