SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) – A Deeper Four-Pillar Audit

Sedex members developed the SMETA audit method, enabling factories to share one social compliance report among multiple buyers without duplicative auditing efforts. It includes two basic audit modules — Labour Standards and Health & Safety — while deeper four-pillar audits add two more modules covering Extended Environment Assessment and Business Ethics.

Labor Standards

SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) is a social audit protocol created to allow factories to share a single report with multiple customers at once, thus saving both cost and time on multiple audits. Developed through Sedex membership process and multi-stakeholder consultation, this tool ensures factories share one report at the right time with multiple customers and reduce cost/time implications of duplicate audits.

Labor standards depend on several variables, including the length of time needed to complete tasks, number of tasks done per hour, type of work completed and any local laws or customer-specific specifications that might arise. Labor standards are derived from ETI Base Code with possible additions of local legislation or customer specific needs as needed.

Labor standards are frequently determined based on theoretical efficiency levels that are possible to reach, while using actual performance data will produce more realistic and achievable standards that may benefit from targeted process improvements. Auditor-manufacturers face particular difficulty when trying to implement this change.

Health & Safety

Sedex members must ensure that their supply chains adhere to international standards for responsible business practices, including worker health and safety, environmental impact mitigation and upholding business ethics. Sedex SMETA audits serve as the main mechanism to evaluate these standards within factories while at the same time improving working conditions globally across supply chains.

SMETA 6.0 audit checklist is an efficient way for auditors to pose pertinent questions and conduct reviews, providing auditors with questions they can use when reviewing factory operations. The checklist’s comprehensive coverage ensures no high-risk issues are overlooked while remaining accessible and user friendly; its mix of yes/no questions as well as descriptive inquiries help auditors achieve maximum impactful review.

UL Solutions is an approved SMETA auditor and can perform 2- or 4-pillar audits in your facilities. Once complete, this report can be uploaded directly onto Sedex Advance for sharing with customers and buyers as well as showing your commitment to sustainable sourcing and social responsibility.

Environment

Factory managers who regularly conduct SMETA audits can show their commitment to responsible business practices while strengthening their standing with potential customers and B2B partners. Furthermore, this audit helps enhance worker health, reduce environmental impact and promote responsible sourcing practices.

Sedex membership developed the SMETA audit protocol based on ETI Base Code and includes four major categories of review: Labor Standards, Health & Safety, Environment and Business Ethics. A 2-Pillar audit covers Labour Standards and Health & Safety while 4-Pillar reviews include additional components like Management Systems Entitlement to Work Subcontracting Homeworking as well as simplified Environment Assessment.

Building and sharing your SMETA checklist is simple with an accessible low-code platform like DATAMYTE. Create and distribute it to all members of your team so they can use it during inspections and changes; schedule a demo now to discover how you can streamline SMETA compliance efforts!

Business Ethics

Sedex (supplier Ethical Data Exchange) is a non-profit organization dedicated to ethical trade. Their tools, services, and network provide companies with tools, resources, and networks for improving responsible business practices, protecting workers’ rights, sourcing ethically, as well as improving sourcing responsibly. Their SMETA audit protocol addresses four main areas of responsibility including Labor Standards, Health and Safety, Environment, and Business Ethics.

SMETA audit is one of the most frequently utilized social audits. An authorized third-party is used to inspect sites and assess working conditions before comparing these against standards set by Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code as well as local laws.

SMETA audits may be conducted both physically and remotely. When physical access to the factory is unavailable, Sedex Virtual Assessment audits provide an alternative. They should not replace an in-person SMETA audit. Before an audit begins, make a list of documents and records which need to be reviewed.