Social & ethical audits

Demonstrate that you operate according to applicable regulations and international standards to uphold human rights.

Companies are increasingly held accountable for every link in their value chains. From regulatory requirements to consumer demands, the social & ethical footprint of products and services must be managed and compliance to laws, international standards and best practices demonstrated. Fair treatment of workers is increasingly subject to new regulations and consumers consider it more and more a part of a product’s quality features.

Benefits

Whether a requirement from your customers or to ensure legal compliance and demonstrate fair practices throughout your value chain, social & ethical audits will:

• Identify and build competence on applicable regulations, standards and best practices;
• Assure compliance to relevant regulations, international standards and best practices;
• Demonstrate to customers that you meet necessary operational, quality, health and safety, environmental, ethical and other sustainability performance requirements;
• Continually improve performance and thus the product/service quality, safety and sustainability.

How does it work

DNV offers a suite of audits, inspections and bespoke assessment services to companies that need independent assurance of their social and ethical performance. This includes second and third-party services for verification of alignment against local legislation, international norms or clients’ own Codes of Conduct.

Our social and ethical audits are conducted according to international best practices, and we customize the audit to address the most challenging issues and risks to individual organizations. The audits focus on areas such as human rights, labor regulations, health and safety sector issues, responsible production practices, fair and living wages, stakeholder relations, community engagement and other aspects, depending on specific needs.

Our offering

Combining deep operational auditing capability, industry-specific knowledge and leadership in solutions for digital assurance, we help create confidence that the necessary requirements are met.

• Local social auditor capacity
  Through our global network of qualified social auditors, we have dedicated professionals in your local market. With operations in more than 100 countries, you work with DNV representatives who speak the local language and are familiar with national laws and sector-specific regulations. Extensive experience and strong focus on project management ensure a cost-efficient process.
• Audit data sharing platforms
  Access to internationally acknowledged and widely used platforms for sharing audit data ensures that audit results can reach multiple customers. In addition, our leading digital assurance solutions enable our customers to access a variety of performance-based data and metrics, supporting internal analysis and allowing you to benchmark your performance internally or towards the industry.
• Accreditations and recognitions
  DNV is accredited by a number of social and ethical auditing schemes. Moreover, we are recognized by some of the most prominent brands to conduct social auditing according to customers’ Code of Conduct including Nestlé, Unilever, Sainsbury’s, Walmart, Marks & Spencer and many other brands and retailers. For more information on our full capability, please contact your local DNV office.