‘Being certified to SA 8000 by Det Norske Veritas demonstrates Honda’s respect for the individual,’ says Michele Della Zizza, business administration manager for the Honda Logistic Centre in Italy. Honda Logistic is the first in the Honda Group, and the first company in Italy, to be certified to this standard by DNV.

Honda Logistic’s Michele Della Zizza, pictured in one of Honda’s ‘green lungs’: ‘Staff are known as associates. We all wear the same white T-shirts at work to demonstrate that we are all equal.’

With the increase in globalisation of all aspects of business, including the outsourcing of most manufacturing to contractors, and in turn to subcontractors, the need for one auditable, global standard resulted in the Social Accountability standard SA 8000. The standard is based on the principles of the 11 Conventions of the International Labour Organisation, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the management process used by the international quality and environmental standards ISO 9000 and 14000.

SA 8000 was published in October 1997 in order to address and eliminate unfair and inhumane labour practices. With the objective of ensuring ethical sourcing of goods and services, it is a voluntary standard and can be applied to any organisation of any size, across all industries and across cultural and geographical boundaries worldwide.
For employees of firms in industrialised countries, SA 8000 underscores its commitment to corporate social responsibility.

Says Della Zizza, After being certified with regard to quality and the environment, we looked into the special characteristics of our company. We had to ask ourselves: What distinguishes Honda, and makes it unique inside its operational environment? Obviously, respect for the individual is the base for the companys entire philosophy. The one international standard that matched our companys philosophy was SA 8000.

The certification scope covered our core business: Storage, handling, packaging and distribution services of car, motorcycle and lawnmower spare parts for Honda products everywhere.

Living by a philosophy
In order for a company to become registered to SA 8000, it must first assess its current work environments and determine the degree to which they already comply with the standard and with local laws. Companies with policies and practices already in compliance with SA 8000 must document and integrate them with existing management systems.

The DNV certification process is carried out in defined stages, which is cost-effective and allows maximum opportunity for feedback and discussion, with a constructive approach by the certification body.

A report is issued at each stage, giving the findings in understandable language. This allows problem areas to be identified and corrective action taken at the earliest opportunity, with minimum cost and disruption to business.

Della Zizza explains, When I started working on the certification process, since no other company in Italy had such experience from this kind of process, I had to write an SA 8000 handbook manual, then write down our operational procedures. I studied international rules and human rights legislation to get a picture of what was important.

A marketing tool
There is growing interest in social accountability in the media, and Della Zizza believes that in the future SA 8000 will be important for marketing purposes. For large companies which purchase products or services abroad, it will ensure that they can be certain that no abuse or misuse of workers is going on. SA 8000 will be important for the whole Honda Group in the future.