The Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) is a leading supply chain management system that supports companies to drive social compliance and improvements within the factories and farms in their global supply chains.

The onsite requirements of the BSCI factory audit as follows:

1. Dormitory/housing situation (such as dormitory provided to employees);

2. Fire-fighting equipment, fire extinguishers and their installation places;

3. Machines, electrical equipment and generators;

4. Sanitary facilities (toilet, restroom and drinking facilities);

5. Steam generator and steam discharge pipe;

6. Necessary benefits and amenities, such as: first aid kits, eating areas, child care homes, wards, tea areas, etc.;

7. Emergency exits, escape routes and their marking/signing cards;

8. Room temperature, ventilation and lighting;

9. Issues related to safety and health: equipment, personnel, training, etc.;

10. Overall cleaning and hygiene.

When asked this question, many experienced suppliers will make "outsourced personnel" as an answer. Outsourcing personnel do not need to provide wages, attendance, etc. It sounds easy, but the current BSCI certification requirements are becoming more and more strict, and no longer use security as an outsourcer. It is possible to solve the security problem and ask the security guard to provide a salary attendance record. 

Then, how to deal with the security part of BSCI certification? The answer goes like this.

Security guards are still handled as an outsourcer and provides appropriate payroll attendance, rather than being treated as factory employees. Because under normal circumstances, the factory can not provide the salary attendance record of the outsourced personnel, the result will not be 0 points, but will be recorded as a non-conformity item. However, if the security guards are treated as the factory employees, it is not only difficult to handle the wage attendance record, but also influence the factory audit results.

The list of BSCI audit documents

Taking the initiative to verify the factory can save a lot of time and effort. The proactive inspection has more time to prepare. Let us walk into the list of BSCI audit documents.

First, the training of relevant personnel:

1. A schedule of workers and management training schedules; documentation of workers' health and safety training.

2. If the worker is involved in hazardous machinery, electrical installations, and any other work that is at high risk, documentation of specific training is required.

3. Workers and management human resources training documents are required.

4. Documentary proof of the faculty's ability.

5. Training documents for all workers.

6. Finally, we need to regularly improve and enhance the communication and training of integrity performance.

Second, the relevant certificates and contracts:

1. To include a description of the work performed by the BSCI and evidence of the qualification of the BSCI executive.

2. An employment contract showing workers' rights and obligations.

3. Contracts for personnel, such as security personnel, contracts for cleaning and other services.

4. Contracts with any service provider, such as contracts for food service, transportation, agency, etc.

5. A worker contract, including a contract with a recruitment agent.

6. Contracts for effective inspection and insurance of machines and vehicles.

7. Official building certificate for safety and industry applicability.

8. Factory valid certificate and environmental license.

9. Invoice for purchase of personal protective equipment purchased by the manufacturer.

10. The factory's valid business license and all necessary official operating approval documents.

Third, records and reports:

1. Documentary proof of the production capacity plan.

2. The BSCI Code of Conduct and enforcement provisions should be distributed to evidence from key business partners.

3. Collective bargaining agreement meeting minutes or documents (if any).

4. Recruitment and dismissal of personnel procedures and records.

5. Documentation of the disciplinary procedure: documentary of the disciplinary time and the measures taken.

6. Documentary proof of worker performance evaluation.

7. Documentary proof of legal deduction of goods and services.

10. The legal minimum wage document for the industry.

11. Workers' payroll and payment vouchers.

12. Risk assessment and action plan for specific measures to protect young workers and young women workers.

13. Summary record of young workers: an overview of the work cycle of young workers.

14. Overview of subcontractors, company apprentices, and seasonal workers.

15. Environmental risk assessment records.

16. Documentary proof of chemical consumption, recovery and disposal.

17. Conduct official inspections to ensure safety records for buildings and equipment, including records of effective dates and corrective actions.

18. Personal records of all workers.

19. Documentary evidence of additional benefits, such as: applicable commercial insurance.

20. Updated social insurance fund documentation.

21. Wage range and calculation list.

22. Documentary evidence covering statutory permanent special circumstances of the manufacturer's industry.

23. Workers’ working hours, overtime records, including agreements with workers.

24. Unexpected documentation.

25. Risk assessment and action plan records for safe, healthy and healthy working conditions.

26. Occupational health and safety regulations applicable to the industry.

27. The Health and Safety Committee election process documentary proof meeting minutes.

28. Age verification procedures, such as procedures to avoid exploitation of children; procedures for improving child labour.

29. Records such as test reports, maintenance records, operations and safety guidelines.

30. Records of dangerous machines and fire fighting equipment.

With this BSCI review checklist, I wish you all a smooth inspection.

The working hours of most companies cannot meet the BSCI certification requirements. The following is a list of BSCI certification working hours self-tests, which helps companies prepare for handling working hours issues:

1. Whether workers can get enough rest time such as eating breaks and rest at night?

2. Is the normal working hours of the factory 8 hours a day, 48 hours a week?

3. Does the factory recruiter know the legal work time limit and whether to explain to the workers at the time of recruitment?

4. The factory needs to know which work is more dangerous because it is dangerous or monotonous and give the worker the rest time?

5. Whether the workers get information about their daily rest time and whether they have a corresponding rest time?

6. Has the factory received complaints about the lack of rest time for workers?

7. Does the factory have measures to deal with complaints about insufficient time off and related records?

8. Whether the factory has established relevant measures for young workers, pregnant women and night shift workers to get a corresponding rest?

The above is part of the BSCI certification working hours self-test list. Before the BSCI certification, it is very necessary for the factory to carry out relevant tests. Otherwise, the BSCI on-site audit is very prone to problems, which seriously leads to the failure of BSCI certification.

BSCI factory audit aims to monitor and promote the social responsibility performance of production-related product companies through continuous improvement and development.

After the BSCI inspection, the most concerned issue is when should we get the BSCI audit result.

All audit reports of audit companies must be uploaded to the BSCI official database. More than 600 members of BSCI can share the audit results of these factories in the database.

The BSCI audit report can be uploaded to the BSCI database within 2 weeks after passing the BSCI audit. At the same time as the report is uploaded, the audit company also obtains the ID account and password of the factory in the BSCI database. With the ID account and password, you can enter the BSCI database to view the factory reports and results.

In short, if you want to check the BSCI audit results, you must first know the ID account and password.

The BSCI Factory Code of Conduct mainly includes the following aspects: compliance with laws and regulations, working hours and workplace, prohibition of discrimination, prohibition of child labor, prohibition of forced labor, environmental and safety issues, freedom of association and collective bargaining, and compensation.

At the end of the year, many companies are thinking about how to enter the European market and increase the progress of the European market. Therefore, they will take the initiative to apply for and prepare for the BSCI audit, and look forward to enhancing their competitiveness for their business in the coming year.

However, many factories have encountered problems when applying, and this problem is very special, that is, Can the factories apply the BSCI certification on their own? Does the BSCI audit need to obtain the written consent of the customer?

The answer is indeed that you need the written consent of the BSCI member customers. Otherwise, the audit company will not pass the application, because the audit company needs to see the BSCI member's written request for the BSCI inspection email.

Even if one individual company obtain the final report by cheating, when uploading to the BSCI official website, the audit company still needs to confirm with the BSC member customers. So the effect of report sharing is not available.

The BSCI Audit Manual is developed to help suppliers, retailers, auditors and other interested parties ensure that they meet the most basic social responsibility and environmental standards within their respective areas of responsibility. This manual provides clear first-hand information and practical solutions on supplier company expectations, execution requirements, and responsibilities that must be assumed throughout the implementation process. It also includes advice on how to derive other economic benefits from the necessary changes and how to seek help and support in the event of a problem. What are the characteristics of the employees who participated in the employee interviews.

What are the characteristics of employees who are selected in interviews with BSCI audit?

1. Young employees: focus on the monitoring and protection of underage workers and child labor.

2. High-age employees: pay attention to welfare, annual leave, social security, contracts, etc.

3. Maternal: pay attention to maternity leave, labor protection, working hours, work content, etc.

4. Chemical operators: pay attention to labor protection, training, protective equipment, etc.

5. Implement three shifts of employees: pay attention to working hours, labor remuneration, rest days, etc.

6. Field staff: pay attention to working hours, labor remuneration, illegal deductions, accommodation, etc.

7. Apprentice employees: pay attention to working hours, labor remuneration, rest days, labor contracts, etc.

8. Part-time workers: pay attention to labor remuneration, labor contracts, wages, etc.

9. Female employees, honest employees, slow-responding employees, etc.

The BSCI Code of Conduct is designed to achieve specific social and environmental guidelines. By signing the BSCI Certification Specification, member companies undertake to accept and adopt the social and environmental standards in this Code to the extent they are able to influence, and take appropriate measures to implement these Regulations in company regulations. The supplier company shall ensure that subcontractors participating in the final manufacturing stage in the name of BSCI members also comply with this Code of Conduct.

The GRS/RCS certification application process is as follows:

1. Please write to request the certification application.

2. Pre-examination of documents: Pre-examination of the application documents of the applicant for certification, evaluation of the feasibility of the certification, the number of audit days and related expenses.

3. Signing the agreement: After the evaluation (no problem), accept the application for certification, and issue the certification quotation and agreement contract, both parties sign and seal.

4. Payment: After the application company receives the quotation agreement, it needs to complete the payment within the time specified in the contract.

5. Certification audit: The certification body will arrange for the auditor to go to the site for review. At that time, the applicant company needs to cooperate with the auditor for review.

6. Issuing a certificate: According to the audit report, the certificate is issued in accordance with the certificate. If there is a non-conformity at the time of the audit, the applicant company submits the rectification information according to the actual situation, and all non-conformities can be corrected if they are corrected within the specified time.

7. Obtain a certificate and use the logo/label and special statement as required by the RCS GRS Logo Use and Claims Guide.

The facility hardware improvement list of BSCI social responsibility factory audit is as follows: 

Now more and more customers will ask the factory to conduct inspections. More and more people will accept the BSCI social responsibility audit. The social responsibility audit is one of the most acceptable inspections. The following content is provided by our techincal team on how to rectify the hardware conditions of the factory.

The first step is to ensure that each safety exit is equipped with an emergency light, a safety exit sign and a safe escape map.

The fire exit should be attached with a safety exit sign.

The escape map requires a description of the current location and the location of the fire-fighting equipment, which is marked with a red sign.

Each office department must have a department name tag.

There are expired fire extinguishing equipment in the workshop and in the dormitory. Please handle it promptly and replace it in time. And each fire extinguisher must be inspected monthly. It must be signed by a special person. The person signing is preferably the same person. This person must also be in the factory.

Each workshop and warehouse must have an escape arrow indication, which can be purchased according to the provided template.

The secondary container of the chemical warehouse standard, and classified storage, posting MSDS (material safety material list), fire equipment (adding fire sand), medicine box and standard eye wash table (sufficient water pressure), special person to manage eye wash, Add a riot light.

Employees do not wear labor insurance products as standard, such as earplugs in workshops higher than 85 decibels.

If there is no dispensing box in each workshop or department, the dispensing box is required and the medicines must be complete. There should be no internal medicine and expired medicines. There must be a blank drug record, first aid procedure, first aid name phone number and local hospital phone number. First responder It should be trained by a doctor with the qualification of a doctor, and the doctor's qualification certificate should be attached to the inspection materials.

Factory waste needs to be classified, recyclable and non-recyclable.

The restaurant staff needs to wear masks and sanitary ware when cooking.

The staff quarters are also equipped with fire-fighting equipment according to the fire-fighting law zone. Fire extinguishers should be installed at obvious and convenient locations and must not affect safe evacuation. Fire extinguishers should be set to be stable and their brand names must be facing outwards.

Fire drills are necessary, 2 times a year, all employees are required to participate, and there are training records and exercises photos. 4 types of photos: evacuation, collection of counts, professionals to demonstrate fire-fighting, personal fire-fighting experience by employees.

All machines must have a daily security record of the professional and cannot appear on Sundays.

It is necessary to conduct training on production safety training and disease prevention for new employees, such as AIDS awareness training and SARS flu prevention and training.

Factory workshops and offices are required to post BSCI customer supplier standards.

Factory pest control plan and measures taken, such as rat and rodenticides.

All electrical devices (electric gates/inserts/switches, etc.) in the workshop must be equipped with locking devices.

All machines must have a daily security record of the professional and cannot appear on Sundays.

It is necessary to conduct training on production safety training and disease prevention for new employees, such as AIDS awareness training and SARS flu prevention and training.

Factory workshops and offices are required to post BSCI customer supplier standards.

Factory pest control plan and measures taken, such as rat and rodenticides.

All electrical devices (electric gates/inserts/switches, etc.) in the workshop must be equipped with locking devices.

In order to improve the inspection pass rate, the supplier should be fully prepared for the initial BSCI audit.

It is recommended that the factory follow the following basic procedures in the process of preparing for the audit:

1. Ensure that these responsible personnel can assist the auditor during the audit process.

2. Keep all the information on the list of documents required for all audit processes on site.

3. Prioritize personnel to be responsible for the relevant areas of the audit (safety, health, human resources, accounting, environment, etc.). Explain to them the preparations they have to do and the information they want them to provide.

4. Read and understand this management manual carefully

5. Conduct a self-assessment in accordance with the BSCI Self-Assessment Questionnaire.

6. Determine if the deviations and violations of the self-assessment, audit questionnaires, and the requirements of Chapter 2 of this manual and other requirements are in violation of the BSCI Handbook.

7. If possible, provide an independent auditor's workshop.

8. Do everything possible to correct these deficiencies prior to the audit date and participate in and complete the pre-emptive measures (if available) for BSCI membership.

9. Provide the auditing company with any information they request in a timely manner.