Key Topic: What Is Social Auditing?

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Social Auditing

Social compliance auditors can be internal auditors, external auditors, or independent auditors or monitors; audit professionals are accredited by institutions or mechanisms, such as trade or professional organizations.

Social compliance monitoring systems generally follow a continuous and circular process:

  • Monitoring: Gathering data at the worker, supplier, and supply chain levels, with priority placed on the greatest risk areas
  • Analyzing: Identifying compliance patterns across the supply chain and risk trends among workers
  • Improving: Recommending and implementing specific changes to strengthen the entire supply chain’s compliance
  • Addressing: Assigning accountability for addressing issues identified through monitoring, often in partnership with workers
Social compliance monitoring systems involve a continuous process of monitoring, addressing, analyzing, and improving

Social compliance auditors should be:

  • Trained in specific protocols for handling sensitive situations involving children or adult victims of exploitation.
  • Prepared to interact with children, and on behalf of children take measures that are age appropriate.
  • Enacting procedures to ensure that victims of child labor or forced labor receive immediate care and services from qualified individuals or organizations.
  • Nationals of the countries where they will perform audits, as appropriate, because they know the culture, language, and customs of the country; hiring local auditors also contributes to sustainable local capacity building.
  • Auditing regularly and timing those audits for when code violations are most likely to occur. For example, in agriculture, child labor may be most likely to occur at harvest time. In manufacturing, labor issues are most likely to occur when facilities are at maximum production levels.
  • Ready to react quickly if a grievance is received regarding a particular worksite.
  • Certified by APSCA’s Certified Social Compliance Auditor (CSCA) designation, which signifies that an individual demonstrates specific experience, knowledge, and skills within the field of social compliance auditing.