Based on the fact that customers and markets are gradually gaining a global scale, ethical actions and transparency are even more important now. Also for those companies, which want to achieve and maintain a high level of ethical standards as well as to correspond to the international norms, there is a SMETA audit, created by SEDEX. SMETA offers a structure to analyse ethical practices across your supply chain, but it comes in two main ways: the Sedex 2-pillar and the Sedex 4-pillar audits.
Therefore, these two differ in the depth and area of focus of the audits, which can significantly impact your business. It is possible to distinguish between these two approaches and outcomes to choose the most suitable solution for enhancing the ethical level of the company and meeting compliance goals. Let’s break down it and get deeper into it to understand more better.
What is SMETA?
It is the SEDEX Member Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA), that the company uses for their business benefits. It is a method of social auditing which provides companies the opportunity to scan or assess their websites or suppliers to learn about the working processes of their Supply chain. Additionally, it is important to note that SMETA is simple and compliant in its structure to help auditors in doing some in-depth research for an audit that can be surrounded by any practice of significance or relevance for a business, including SEDEX’s 4 pillars which are; labour, health and safety, environment, and business ethics.
SEDEX 2 pillar Audit and sedex 4 pillar Audit are two subcategories that help to analyse various aspects of an organization’s sustainability.
Sedex certification offers two pillars of audit structures: Sedex certification offers 2 pillars of audit structures:
- Sedex 2 pillars Audit
- Sedex 4 pillars Audit
Ok, let’s get in and look at these two concepts more deeply to explain the fundamentals of Sedex/SMETA Audits.
Sedex Audit 2-Pillar: Major Characteristics
This is the reason why the SMETA 2-pillar Audit is intended to give a basic assessment of ethics. It covers two primary pillars: It covers two primary pillars:
Labour Standards: The main objective of the Sedex 2-pillar audit is to protect the rules and regulations of working. In this pillar, auditors will look at the working environment, working hours, remuneration and wages, contracts of employment, employment discrimination, use of child labour, use of forced labour and other related matters. The suppliers or businesses will be watched by the auditors to see if they are compliant with any of the international labour laws or even regulations.
Health and Safety: This parameter comprises of working environment and safety equipment, firefighting equipment among others, as well as other important beneficial terms for the employees about health care. The auditor will observe the business’s performance as it relates to these things and whether it is an asset to have them or not for the employee.
Key Advantages of Sedex Audit 2-Pillar
Focus on Core Issues: It focuses on critical sectors that have an impact on the quality of civil employee lives and their safety.
Cost-Effective: Compared to the 4-pillar audit, it tends to be less expensive, which benefits firms with fewer employees or those that are new to ethical audits.
Simplified Process: This, offers a direct way of evaluating the basic ethical practices that can be adopted in organizations.
SEDEX/SMETA Audit 4-Pillar: Features & Attributes
It is a broader field of moral values and works particularly business ethics as compared to the Field of Applied Ethics. They connect with the progress of responsibility toward the workers, environment, and corporal societal status improvement; also, it stimulates the functioning of the representatives of the workers. The SMETA 4-pillar audit presents a more detailed analysis by expanding the scope to include two additional pillars:
Environment: This pillar involves the assessment of the implication of business on the environment by identifying the amount of wastes and pollutants produced, and the usage of natural resources among others.
Business Ethics: This is a critical aspect of business and refers to the relationship between the business and other parties, including the clients, and government, among others, that entails the right or wrong way of doing things, for instance, corruption-free business, business integrity, accountability, etc.
Key Advantages of Sedex 4-Pillar
Comprehensive Assessment: The paper offers a comprehensive analysis of all the crucial ethical and environmental factors.
Enhanced Credibility: It shows that it has a better adherence to ethical practices, this may be good for companies who want to build image.
Market Differentiation: By extending the firm’s commitment to various ethical issues it assists the firm to be unique in the market crowded with competitors.
Choosing the Right Audit: SEDEX /SMETA 2-Pillar and 4-Pillar
When deciding between Sedex 2-Pillar Audit and Sedex 4-Pillar audits, consider the following factors:
Business Size and Scope: It is possible that some organizations or those companies, which have just started their way towards ethical compliance, can be satisfied with the Sedex 2-Pillar audit. Perhaps, the Sedex 4-Pillar audit may be more beneficial to larger firms or firms that have multiple business processes since it has a broad coverage as compared to the other audit approaches.
Customer Requirements: Certain customers or markets may need the Sedex 4-pillar audit and Sedex 2 pillar audit audit to obtain specific ethical and/or environmental requirements.
Resource Availability: Assess whether your company is ready for the Sedex 4-Pillar audit and Sedex 2 pillar audit checklist and whether it will be able to meet the additional criteria, time and/or costs needed.
Steps for Acquiring Sedex SMETA Certification
There are various steps through which legal4sure ensures that the suppliers easily achieve the Sedex certification with complete documentation and verification. These steps are as follows:
- The foremost thing is to register online on Sedex to become a member of A or AB-based.
- After this, you have to link your Sedex registration number provided by member A to step into the next process.
- Carry out gap analysis: The next important step is to do a complete analysis and find the gap in the existing documentation.
- SAQ fulfilment comprises a set of questions online on the Sedex platform. There would be a set of questionnaires (self-assessment questions) that need to be completed before processing the documentation.
- Appointment of the leader to lead sedex implementation
- Defining roles, responsibilities, and authorities.
- Develop the required documents as per the compliance norms.
- Conduct Audits.
- Completion of audits with all the gap closures.
- Apply for SEDEX SMETA Audits & complete the Audits
Read More: Why choice Sedex audit ?
Conclusion
Nevertheless, both the Sedex-SMETA Audit 2-pillar and the Sedex-SMETA Audit 4-pillar provide an extensive overview of various ethical practices; however, these two tools are developed to meet different requirements and have distinct scopes. The Sedex 2-Pillar audit offers a smooth approach for assessing labour and safety measures and the Sedex 4-Pillar audit entails a broader examination of the company’s environment as well as business conduct.
If you are seeking the right Sedex-SMETA consultants for your Sedex Certification you connect with Legal4sure now and get the best and simplest process work possible. Our experienced team of skilled consultants and auditors will help you in every manner to achieve SEDEX certification. Contact Us at +91 9310655040 Now to Get Started!