TCO Certified includes enhanced requirements for social responsibility in manufacturing

IT Purchasing – how to know your IT products are manufactured under socially responsible conditions

An important aspect of TCO Certified is to ensure the commitment of IT brands to socially responsible working condition in their production facilities. With this goal in mind, during 2012 we have enhanced TCO Certified requirements for social responsibility in manufacturing.

The latest criteria set for all TCO Certified product areas include these criteria for socially responsible manufacturing.

TCO Development verifies that brand name products meet the enhanced CSR requirements in the new generation TCO Certified, which requires manufacturers to:

• Follow ILO’s eight Core Conventions
• Follow the UN’s  International Conventions on Child Labor, Article 32
• Follow the producing countries’ own laws regarding health and safety as well as labor legislation, minimum wage and social security

Production facilities complying with the CSR requirements in TCO Certified prove their commitment by:

• Signing commitment agreements with TCO Certified
• Maintaining membership and commitment to the requirements of EICC, SA8000-certification or show evidence of processes that comply with the requirements.
• Ensuring that yearly inspections of the production facilities manufacturing TCO Certified products are conducted by an independent party.
• Providing an independent inspection report for at least one relevant production facility each year
• Being prepared for random inspections
• Maintaining an open and continual dialog with TCO Development regarding ongoing CSR efforts.

TCO Development has a contract with a number of test and verification bodies and reviews first-hand all audit reports. Each report is examined and interpreted for compliance with the criteria in TCO Certified.

For more information, contact:
Stephen Fuller, TCO Development.