SA8000 Ethical Certification

Obiettivo Lavoro successfully completed the certification process on 31 July 2007, obtaining the SA 8000: 2001 Certification for its Corporate Responsibility System, from the CISE Certification Committee.

The Ethical Certification is thus integrated into the OL Social Responsibility System, with the formal recognition, by a Certification Body, of the concrete application of our values.

"SA" is the acronym for Social Accountability.

The SA8000 Ethical Certification is granted to companies that, after a comprehensive set of audits, are found to meet the ethical criteria established by the American body SAI (Social Accountability International), a non governmental association dedicated to advancing the rights of workers around the world.

The Certification is grounded in the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ILO Conventions, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on discrimination against women, and the national legislations.

The fundamental principles of the SA8000 standard call for:

• Involvement of management
• Involvement of all areas of the company
• Emphasis on prevention rather than on correction
• Continuous improvement
• Identification of performance requirements paired with system requirements

The requirements which must be met to obtain the Certification vouch for the full transparency and ethical integrity of the firm, in the following critical areas:

• Child labour
• Forced labour
• Health and safety
• Freedom of association
• Discrimination
• Disciplinary practices
• Working hours
• Remuneration
• Management systems

The objectives pursued by the SA8000 standard are to improve general working conditions and terms of pay, promote school-attendance of children, eliminate discrimination, physical abuses and other forms of pressure in the workplace, promote freedom of association within the production system, and improve the safety of workers.