ISO 26000

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Logo of the German Institute for Standardization DIN ISO 26000
Area Business ethics
title Social Responsibility Guide
Latest edition 2011-01
ISO 26000

The ISO 26000 is there a guide, the orientation and recommendations on how organizations should behave any kind, so they can be viewed as socially responsible. The guide was published in November 2010 and its use is voluntary. In Germany this standard is published as DIN ISO 26000 with the date of issue January 2011.

ISO 26000 is not a certifiable management system standard like ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 . The objective of the guide (Document N191, Copenhagen, May 2010) states: “This International Standard is not a management system standard. It is not intended or appropriate for certification purposes or regulatory or contractual use. Any offer to certify, or claims to be certified, to ISO 26000 would be a misrepresentation of the intent and purpose and a misuse of this International Standard. As this International Standard does not contain requirements, any such certification would not be a demonstration of conformity with this International Standard. "

That means: “This international standard is not a management system standard. It is neither intended nor suitable for certification purposes or for use in government regulations or contracts. Certification offers or declarations of being ISO 26000 certified represent a misjudgment of the objective and purpose as well as a misuse of this International Standard. Because this International Standard does not describe any requirements, any such certification would not be a statement of conformity with this International Standard. "

structure

The ISO 26000 is divided into seven sections, notes and references:

  1. Scope of application;
  2. Terms and definitions;
  3. Understanding of social responsibility;
  4. Seven principles of social responsibility. These include accountability, transparency, ethical behavior, respect for the interests of stakeholders, respect for the rule of law, respect for international standards of conduct and respect for human rights.
  5. The recognition of social responsibility and the identification and involvement of stakeholders;
  6. Areas of action for seven core topics: organizational management, human rights, work practices, the environment (ecology), fair operating and business practices, consumer concerns, regional integration and community development.
  7. Recommendations for action for the organization-wide integration of social responsibility.

History and goals

The guideline encompasses "exemplary applications that are worth striving for" ( best practices ) of socially responsible behavior by organizations. It is compatible both with the guidelines of the United Nations and with those of the international labor organization ILO.

The usefulness of such a guideline became clear in 2002 in the ISO / COPOLCO working group and its implementation was officially started in 2004. Most recently, over 90 countries and over 40 organizations worked in the ISO 26000 working group . The ISO member countries Brazil and Sweden chaired the meeting.

The guide is intended to help move organizations from good intent to good practice . However, since ISO 26000 - unlike previous standards e.g. B. from the areas of "environment" (such as ISO 14001 ) or "social" (such as SA8000 ) - is not designed as a certifiable management system standard, it is discussed what contribution the guide makes to the implementation of social responsibility and whether it is under In some circumstances it is even a completely new standard type.

Content of ISO 26000

As essential practices for anchoring social responsibility, ISO 26000 makes two points:

  1. Recognition of social responsibility and
  2. Identification and involvement of the stakeholders.

It also describes various fields of action within seven core topics and gives corresponding recommendations. Seven principles of social responsibility serve as a conceptual guideline.

The core topics are:

  1. Organizational management,
  2. Human rights,
  3. Labor practices,
  4. Environment,
  5. fair operating and business practices,
  6. Consumer concerns and
  7. Community involvement and development.

The core topic of organizational management has a special position in that it is itself a core topic and, on the other hand, it is also a prerequisite for the other six core topics. ISO 26000 lists fields of action for each core topic and sets out corresponding expectations for socially responsible organizations.

The principles are:

  1. Accountability,
  2. Transparency,
  3. ethical behavior,
  4. Respect for the interests of stakeholders,
  5. Respect for the rule of law,
  6. Respect international standards of conduct as well
  7. Respect for human rights.

literature

  • Bay, Karl-Christian (Ed.): ISO 26000 in practice: The guide to guidelines for social responsibility and sustainability , Oldenbourg Industrieverlag, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-8356-3222-6
  • Fuchshofen, Nicolas; Terlau, Wiltrud; Peren, Franz W .; Uwer, Dirk: A testing and certification standard for the social responsibility of organizations: A discussion proposal based on DIN EN ISO / IEC 26000 , MUR-Verlag 2019, ISBN 978-3-945939-18-5
  • Hardtke, Arnd; Kleinfeld, Annette: Corporate Social Responsibility: From the Idea of ​​Corporate Social Responsibility to Successful Implementation , Gabler 2010, ISBN 978-3-8349-0806-3
  • Jastram, Sarah: Legitimation of private governance: opportunities and problems using the example of ISO 26000 . Wiesbaden: Gabler 2012, ISBN 978-3-8349-4112-1

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See in the comprehensive overview Hahn, R. (2011): "International standardization and global governance: On the legitimacy of the development process of the guideline ISO 26000". In: Die Betriebswirtschaft 2011, vol. 71, no. 2, pp. 121–137
  2. ↑ An analysis of the development process can be found in Hahn, R. (2011): “International standardization and global governance: On the legitimacy of the development process of the ISO 26000 guideline”. In: Die Betriebswirtschaft 2011, vol. 71, no. 2, pp. 121–137
  3. ↑ See in detail Hahn, R. (2012): “ Standardizing Social Responsibility? New Perspectives on Guidance Documents and Management System Standards for Sustainable Development ". In: IEEE - Transactions on Engineering Management ( doi : 10.1109 / TEM.2012.2183639 ).