All You Need TO Know About SEDEX Certification

Author : John Mills | Published On : 13 Dec 2023

When a company relies on outsourcing, one of the most critical components is the supply chain. It becomes critical to guarantee that the supplier with whom we are collaborating operates ethically. As a result, a standardised framework becomes one of the most effective ways to monitor functionality at the supplier's site, as well as aiding in the development of a transparent supply chain. Let us acquire a better grasp of SEDEX.

To Know the SEDEX and SMETA

SEDEX (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange) is a global non-profit organization that enables businesses to collaborate to enhance social and environmental performance and working conditions across the supply chain.

Founded in 2001 by a collection of merchants, it attempts to reduce the burden on suppliers by providing a web-based database that allows suppliers to share ethical data, such as ethical audit reports, with their customers. Customers can also maintain track of their suppliers and read the ethical reports that have been provided to them.

SEDEX employs its social auditing technique, SMETA (SEDEX Members Ethical Trade Audit), to create a standardised audit framework. SMETA helps organizations to examine their locations and suppliers to better understand the working conditions in their supply chain.

During an audit, the site is evaluated based on the organization's labour, health and safety, environment, and corporate ethics standards. These four criteria are regarded as the core parts of SEDEX.

Under SMETA, there are two types of audits to choose from: 2 Pillar Audit & 4 Pillar Audit

A SMETA-2 Pillar Audit includes the following components:

  • Labour Standards
  • Health and Safety

A SMETA-4 Pillar audit includes the following components:

  • Labour Standards
  • Health and Safety
  • Environmental ethics (detailed)
  • Business Ethics

All four pillars depend on legislative obligations, international standards, and best practices. The other two pillars may not be required by all, so auditors must understand when these additional modules are required.

SEDEX is Beneficial for:

SEDEX is relevant to all sectors, regardless of their procedures, although it is particularly beneficial in companies with a large workforce and the possibility of social injustice. Some examples of such industries are as follows:

  • Garment and Textile Industries
  • Pharmaceutical Industries
  • Oil and natural gas industries
  • Heavy Machine Manufacturing Industries
  • Automobile Manufacturing Companies
  • Construction Industries

What are the Key Implementation Steps?

Implementing SEDEX requires you to meet the following criteria:

  • Legal Compliance and Management
  • Forced Labour
  • Wages and Benefits
  • Work Hours
  • Liberty of Association
  • Labour for children
  • Discrimination
  • Labour Corruption
  • Health and Safety
  • The environment
  • Bribery and Corruption / Business Practices
  • CSR initiatives and community involvement

How Punyam.com Can Assist Your Organization in Obtaining SEDEX Certification

At Punyam.com, our professional consultant team can assist you with all of the processes required to build your business and lead you through the implementation process. Our consultants have more than 30 years of experience. We have clients in more than 100 countries to get their organizations for SEDEX-Certified. Punyam offers the deep expertise and the much-needed ability to help your organization acquire SEDEX Certification easily. Punyam's SEDEX consultants will actively assist you in implementing SEDEX requirements, passing the SMETA assessment, and achieving SEDEX Certification.