Health, Safety and Environment - International Labour Organization

Manual 4:HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT FACT SHEETSWhy voluntaryInitiatives orcodes ofconduct?The chemical industry has been a leader in promoting codes of conductdue to its need to improve public perception of its performance onoccupational health & safety, and pollution control and protection of theenvironment. The industry suffers from a poor public image and low levelsof public confidence owing to increased chemical pollution in many partsof the world.Also poor legislation, non-enforcement or non-existence of laws andregulatory bodies on health safety and environment in many of thedeveloping countries has prompted civil society, especially in the north, tomake companies accountable for social and environmental impact of theiractivities. As a consequence, industry fears increased government and civilsociety complaints, which costs industry both financial and market loss. InformationTheimplementationprocessThe implementation of codes depends on the participation of stakeholdersincluding workers (trade unions), employers, the chemical industry andother associations. To function effectively, codes will require co-operationand flexibility within the supply chain based on networks of differentactors. The relative position of power between these groups will also playan important part in how codes operate in reality. The concernedstakeholders should be full partners at the relevant decision making levels,that is, companies, trade unions and NGOs.MonitoringandverificationCodes are broad statements of commitment rather than operationaldocuments. Within the framework of codes, enterprises committhemselves to assess codes through monitoring and verification. This willinvolve various stakeholders linking the commercial & social, international& local. It is carried out by technical persons through data collection, sitevisits and interviews. The process also needs to ensure impartiality,accountability and transparency, which companies or auditors alonecannot provide. Without the involvement of stakeholders, the poorconditions are unlikely to be exposed. So far, different methods ofmonitoring and independent verification are being used. These include: internal monitoring of the relevant company external monitoring by conventional audit firms verification by academics verification by Trade Unions and NGOsMonitoring can be announced or unannounced. Trade unions monitorworkplaces to bring benefit to workers. It is not the responsibility of tradeunions to monitor or verify, but they should be regularly consulted as partof the monitoring and verification process.193 Health, Safety and EnvironmentA Series of Trade Union EducationManuals for Agricultural Workers