Matthew Chiles: Now, we complete part three and this episode how we started with Alex Trautrims and a quick guide to the standard we discussed throughout this episode, BS 25700, which provides that toolkit or playbook that Sara mentioned to have organizations make those voluntary changes to address the issue of modern slavery.
I fire some questions at Alex, starting with the obvious one and going right back to the beginning. What is the standard all about?
Alex Trautrims: So the standard BS 25700 really is all about helping organizations in formulating and implementing their responses to modern slavery risks that they may face.
Matthew Chiles: What type of standard is it?
Alex Trautrims: It is a guidance standard. It is a very comprehensive document, with a lot of expert knowledge on how organizations best deal with modern slavery.
Matthew Chiles: Why is it being developed?
Alex Trautrims: It is being developed because pretty much all organizations in the world face modern slavery somewhere in the organizations, in their supply chains, and in the wider supply chain organization. So really companies have a need to address modern slavery and also to address SDG 8, which is to achieve decent work for all, including the eradication of modern slavery.
Matthew Chiles: What is meant by the term modern slavery?
Alex Trautrims: Modern slavery is used as an umbrella term really for the most serious forms of exploitation, which includes forced labor, human trafficking and servitude.
Matthew Chiles: Who is the standard for?
Alex Trautrims: The standard is for practitioners both in the public sector and the private sector who want to undertake work against modern slavery and want to implement that in their organizations in a coordinated and meaningful way.
Matthew Chiles: How do organizations use the standard?
Alex Trautrims: The standard is really a management system at its core in that it coordinates antislavery work. But then from that system onwards, it really goes into identifying what are the highest risk areas, what should be the top priorities of the organization, and then how to undertake activities that address those priority areas.
Matthew Chiles: By using the standard, what benefits does it bring the organization?
Alex Trautrims: So the organization itself is then in a position to deal with modern slavery risks effectively and in a coordinated way. I think at the moment we see many businesses do different types of activities in different areas, very often not particularly well coordinated. So this is really bringing this together, forming it into a management system that makes sure the organization is actually using its resources in the best way possible to address modern slavery.
Matthew Chiles: How does it work alongside other standards?
Alex Trautrims: So the standard sits within a larger framework of international and domestic laws that are evolving very rapidly at the moment. The standard is obviously not competing with these other legal frameworks, but it is really there to help organizations to comply with their obligations and to help them to implement anti-slavery activities in their organization.
Matthew Chiles: Who was involved in developing the standard?
Alex Trautrims: About 50 people were part of the committee that developed the standard and they came from very different areas. We had practitioners from businesses, from the public sector, academic experts, NGOs, and also contributors with lived experience. And people also came together from different topic angles.
Therefore we had a really good number of people who are modern slavery experts, but also a good number of experts on risk management. Bringing these individuals together was really, really useful.
Matthew Chiles: What difference will the standard make?
Alex Trautrims: We hope that this standard really helps organizations to implement effective responses to modern slavery, and we hope that it will help organizations to make their modern slavery responses as effective and as meaningful as possible. It really is basically a big education piece. There is a lot of knowledge in the standard, a lot of what experts see as best practices out there, and we hope that this will be helpful for people to access that knowledge and utilize it.
Matthew Chiles: So my thanks to Alex Trautrims, Dame Sara Thornton, Helen Carter, Ryan Lynch and Fred Waelter for speaking to me about the issue of modern slavery for The Standards Show. My thanks also to BSI’s Cici Liu for all of her help in producing this episode.
To find out more about creating ethical and sustainable supply chains and organizational responses to modern slavery, including the standard BS 25700, check out the links in the show notes.
Want to learn more? The previous two sessions are also available; the role of consumers within ethical supply chains with BSI’s Principle Consultant in Sustainable Supply Chains, Fred Waelter.
And a conversation on using standards to protect human rights with Dame Sara Thornton, former Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner in the UK, and Dr. Alex Trautrims, Professor of Supply Chain Management at Nottingham University Business School and Associate Director at Rights Lab.
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