International whistleblowing management system published

17 August 2021

BSI, in its role as the UK National Standards Body, publishes guidance for an effective whistleblowing management system based on the principles of trust, impartiality, and protection.

The new international standard, named BS ISO 37002:2021, Whistleblowing management systems, Guidelines, provides guidance to organizations for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving a whistleblowing management system. It is intended to:

encourage and facilitate reporting of wrongdoing;
support and protect whistleblowers and other interested parties involved;
ensure reports of wrongdoing are dealt with in a proper and timely manner;
improve organizational culture and governance;
reduce the risks of wrongdoing.

David Fatscher, Head of Environment, Social and Governance Standards at BSI said: “Studies show that a large proportion of wrongdoing comes to the attention of the affected organization through reports from someone within or close to the organization. This has led organizations to introduce or improve internal whistleblowing policies and processes.

“We are proud to have led the development of the first whistleblowing management system that can help organizations of all sizes to set-up and maintain a robust process. This is an important people-centric standard that can build organizational trust by encouraging a culture of openness, transparency, integrity and accountability.”

Organizations can download the standard via the BSI shop here.

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Notes to the editor:

The standard has been developed by an international committee that is made-up of governance experts. See the committee here: https://www.iso.org/committee/6266703.html