ISO 26000

The ISO 26000 will be a standard that will, through guidelines, orient companies all over the world in regard to Social Responsibility. Its publication is expected to occur in December, 2008.

Considering ArcelorMittal Tubarão concern towards education for Sustainability, the Company participates in this project aiming to establish the exchange of knowledge and experiences through the interaction with other participants. With companies speaking the same language, it is possible for each company to accomplish its role of bringing benefits to the world.

This standard will consist in guidelines, yet not targeting certification. It is applicable in any kind of organization such as companies, governments, NGOs, among others. It will be based on initiatives that already exist and will not be management system-like.

In order to elaborate the ISO 26000, ISO has constituted a Social Responsibility Work Group, formed by 360 experts and observers of more than 60 countries. Throughout this process, representatives of several categories of stakeholders - Customers, Companies, Governments, Workers, NGOs, Service Support, Research and others - get together to debate the major tendencies and search for a consensual future for Social Responsibility in the world.

For the first time in ISO, the leadership of a process of this nature is shared between a developing country, Brazil (coordinated by ABNT, Brazilian Association of Technical Standards), and a developed country, Sweden (SIS, Swedish Standards Institute). The D-liaison organizations, which are well-known international organizations or networks, also participate in the construction of the standard. The Ethos Institute and UniEthos are officially registered in the ISO 26000 development process as members of D-liaison networks Company Forum and Inter-American Social Responsibility Network, respectively.

The Ethos Institute and UniEthos have developed the Ethos Work Group for ISO 26000, as an initiative to allow their associate companies to be involved in the development of ISO 26000. The idea is to contribute to the qualification of companies in the emergent themes of the process of standard elaboration, allow them to see the tendencies of the Social Responsibility movement in the world and constitute an exchange and learning channel, which can assist the Ethos Institute and UniEthos in their positioning regarding the standard.

The companies that constitute Ethos Work Group - ISO 26000 (Ethos WG) participate in on-site meetings, receive electronic bulletins and have access to an exclusive virtual platform for the Group. Through these activities, they discuss the construction of the future standard in debates that include themes such as human rights, work practices and environment, and even matters concerning Social Responsibility implementation in organization management.

More than 70 companies associated to Ethos are already part of Ethos WG - ISO 26000 and ArcelorMittal Tubarão is pleased to be one of the sponsors and participants of this innovating and strategic project, reinforcing its commitment towards Social Responsibility and Sustainability. For further information about ISO 26000, access the official ISO Social Responsibility website: www.iso.org/sr.