BSCI Audit: The Ultimate FAQ Guide

When importing from China, BSCI Audit is a critical aspect.

This guide will take you through all the critical aspects of the BSCI Audit.

Take a look:

What is a BSCI Audit?

BSCI Audit

Business social compliance initiative is an audit system that deals with monitoring and assessing the standards of your work place.

This audit will ensure that your company ensures proper responsibility not just within but also in the supply chain.

It seeks to ensure that the suppliers providing you with the necessary raw materials are treating their employees legally and ethically.

Why Does BSCI Audit Exist?

In the context of globalization, you probably outsource different raw materials from different suppliers all over the world.

You have to ensure that the companies you are in business with have proper codes of conduct of treating their employees.

In that sense, it is therefore, very important that you perform BSCI audit because of the following reasons.

• Show that your company has a special commitment to ethical sourcing of raw materials
• Ensure that the working conditions within your supply chain is fair and transparent
• Strengthens the CSR credentials of your brand
• As a mode of complying with the statutory requirements such as legislations on modern slavery
• Establishment of long-lasting business relationship between your buyers and your suppliers.

What is the Significance of Conducting a BSCI Audit?

With proper business social compliance initiative, you will be sure of experiencing great benefits.

Some of the benefits that you will experience by conducting BSCI audit on your company include:

· Proper Treatment of Workers

BSCI audits will ensure that you treat the workers within your company in the right manner according to the law.

Apart from that, it will also ensure that the companies you are in business with are also doing the same.

This includes certain factors such as fair renumeration, freedom of association, safety and health prohibitions of child labor.

· Enjoy Good Reputation

Your company will have the best reputation among others especially if you have the best mode of treating your employees.

Additionally, you will be avoiding negative publicity that would have a great impact on your company.

· Enhance Your Reputation

Your company’s reputation will also be on a higher level as people will have great trust with your company.

· Better Relationship with Suppliers

Your relationship with your suppliers will also improve a great deal as they will have vested trust in your business ethics.

· Ease of Certification

You will also enjoy a smooth ride to the point where you will receive the SA800 certification for your company.

What is the Process of Conducting a BSCI Audit?

There are six major steps that you need to follow especially when you are conducting a BSCI Audit on a company.

Here is a step by step procedure that you need to follow when conducting a BSCI Audit.

Step One: Application for the Audit

First, you will have to fill an application to the BSCI auditing firm to show your interest in conducting an audit.

You will apply via the auditing firm’s platform and this must be approved by the BSCI team responsible for the supplier.

Step Two: Preparation for the Audit

After approving the application, the next step is to prepare yourself for the auditing process.

In this case, the supply under audit will have to sign a document dictating the “Terms of Implementation”.

By signing the document, the supplier will be acknowledging the principles and values of the BSCI code of conduct.

Apart from that, the supplier will also agree to an all access auditing of the company.

Some of the things that the supplier will be agreeing to include:

i. Confidential interviews with the supplier’s employees.
ii. Making copies of necessary documents
iii. Taking of pictures of the production facility
iv. Documentation of the auditing results.

Before the auditing begins, your employees will have to fill a few questionnaires to give the auditors a head start.

It will also help the auditors to plan and share the plan with the supplier so as to prepare the necessary documents.

Step Three: Performing the Audit on Site

During the auditing process, the auditors will check if the suppliers are adhering to the BSCI code of conduct.

You must also know that the auditors have the freedom to announce, semi-announce and even not announce the audit day.

In many cases, semi-announcements are carried out and then done within a month’s notice without exact date notifications.

It will often begin with a meeting where a clear guideline on the auditing plan is given out.

After that, the auditors will follow the plan and conduct the audit accordingly and ends with closing meetings.

BSCI Code of conduct

Step Four: Giving the Audit Results

After the audit, the results are given out with absolute truth which is countersigned by the auditors and suppliers.

In the results, the company will get an auditing grade ranging from an A for Outstanding to an E for unacceptable.

You will also note that the results are recorded in the BSCI platform where the supplier and the customers can view.

Step Five: Follow Up Audit

This audit is not compulsory but you can perform it if there is a need for you to perform it.

You will perform a follow up audit only if some of the BSCI code of conduct requirements were not followed.

As a supplier, you will have to make the right adjustments as soon as possible pending further verification on site.

The final results will also appear in the BSCI platform for the supplier and the customers to view.

Step Six: Renewal Audit

You will have the audit report validated for just two years meaning you have to perform another audit.

Implying that you will perform audits on your firm after every two years.

Is there a BSCI Audit Code of Conduct that You Will Follow?

Yes, there is a BSCI code of conduct that you need to follow when conducting business in your company.

The code of conduct that you need to follow in your business dictates that:

1. Compliance with the Law Set by the Government

Your business ethics should follow on the set rules and regulations that will govern proper operations within the country.

Implying that, you have to follow the law of the government to the letter for you to operate successfully.

2. Allowing the Freedom of Assembly as well as Collective Bargaining Rights

You must also give total freedom to your employees to enjoy their rights while working under your company.

This means that your employees must have the freedom of coming together in a bid to vote in their representatives.

3. Prohibition of Discrimination

At your work place, it is important that you have strict rules that will combat any form of discrimination on your employees.

In reference to your rights, you must never discriminate on people based on their differences.

4. Compliance to Minimum Wages

You must also have strict compliance to the legally documented minimal wages including basic means of employee subsistence.

5. Adherence to Proper Working Hours

It is also very important to set the normal working hours to a maximum of 48 hours in a week.

On the same breath, you should try and minimize or limit overtime to a great extent.

6. Prohibit Child Labor

You must also avoid using children as a source of labor within your company in compliance to the international labor laws.

7. Health and Safety Rules at the Workplace

You must have clear rules on safety as well as health at your place of work.

These rules will dictate the code of conduct that you will follow to keep every employee safe and healthy.

8. Prohibit Forced Labor

Your organization must also prohibit forced labor on your employees and eliminate crude disciplinary measures.

9. Compliance with Waste Requirements

Your company must also have proper guidelines on how you will manage the waste that your company produces.

The set guidelines should comply to the minimum requirements for waste management, waste water treatment as well as emissions.

10. Proper Handling of Hazardous Substances

The company must have the most appropriate mode of handling hazardous substances such as chemicals without causing harm.

How Does BSCI Audit Compare to SEDEX Audit?

SEDEX audit and BSCI audit are the greatest auditing standards or the most accredited auditing standards to use.

You can either choose to use SEDEX auditing or BSCI based on their advantages and disadvantages.

Here is a comparison between the two types of audits.

Similarities between SEDEX and BSCI

Accepting SEDEX auditing standards will definitely lead you to accepting the BSCI auditing standards.

You will use SEDEX audits and BSCI audits to enforce the social responsibility that is required of suppliers.

Difference between SEDEX and BSCI

You will use BSCI audits to compel the business community to social responsibility audits including all BSCI social partners.

On the other hand, SEDEX also has the same social responsibility requirements except for a few differences.

For instance, SEDEX audit has its own working hours requirements for the employees which is different from BSCI audit requirements.

What are Some of the Offers that You Can get from the BSCI Audit System?

BSCI

To make the implementation of BSCI code of conduct quite simple, there are special offers that you company receives.

Here are some of the offers that you company could receive under the BSCI code of conduct.

• A single unit of code of conduct
• A single unit of the implementation system
• Various activities and tools that will support producers and companies
• Connection to all your importers, retailers, as well as brand companies.
• Special connection to all the products in different locations worldwide.

Which Kind of Offers Do BSCI Audits Fail to Provide?

BSCI audits are not auditing firms so they do not conduct the audits.

All they do is provide the guidelines on what is expected during the audit of your company.

Apart from that, they will also provide you with accredited auditing companies that will audit your firm.

Later, you will receive an audit report from them thus rating you among the companies with clear reputations.

Where Can I Use or Employ the BSCI Audit?

You can use the BSCI audit especially if you are a company that deals with international businesses.

It is the best auditing criterion that you will follow for international markets and cooperation’s with companies abroad.

It will make sense to your company especially if you are seeking to strengthen responsible cooperate action.

Furthermore, it will help your company to have the perfect reputation among BSCI members and international suppliers.

Remember, it is a critical aspect of factory audit in China.

What Kind of Evaluation Ratings are Available for the BSCI Audits?

After the conclusion of an audit on your company, you will receive a report with the results.

The results that you will receive will have a rating of your companies’ performance on the audit.

Your company will receive evaluation results ranging from an A for outstanding performance to an E for poor performance.

Here is the list of the evaluation grades that your company might receive.

• A for outstanding performance
• B for good performance
• C for acceptable performance
• D for insufficient performance
• E for unacceptable performance

What are the Benefits of Conducting BSCI Audits?

BCSI Certificate

Having BSCI certification after a BSCI audit will help you manage your company in a better way.

Here are some of the benefits that you will get from BSCI certified.

• Your company will be open for new marketing possibilities thus strengthening the consumer and customer trust.
• You will have a stronger foundation when it comes to business relationships giving you an upper hand in tender procedures.
• You will have the perfect basis of being SA800 certified.
• You will have the perfect improvements especially in the management of your value chains.
• You will also save on time as well as cost as you avoid having multiple audits on your company.
• You will also have a proper share of responsibility in the fair production of goods.

What is the Relationship Between SA800 Standards and BSCI Audits?

Well, SA800 standards are international standards that have better requirements than BSCI audits.

You should strive to make your company comply to the SA800 standards thus making BSCI audits easy.

In case your company complies to the SA800 standards, then you are in a better position to pass BSCI audits.

Which Practical Steps Should You Conduct in Preparation for BSCI Audits?

Well, before you conduct a BSCI audit on your company, there are practical steps that you need to follow.

Here are the main factors that you need to have in preparation for the BSCI audits.

· Familiarize with BSCI Code of Conduct

It is important that you know the code of conduct of the BSCI regulations for proper referencing and guidance.

· Conducting Internal Audits

You can also prepare for the actual audit by conducting an internal audit of your company.

It will help you identify the issues that you need to adjust before the main audit happens.

· Refer to BSCI Checklist

You should also refer to the checklist which will guide you on the things that you need to have in place.

Do You have Any Form of Technology that You Can Use in Streamlining BSCI Audits?

Yes, in the digital world, you can download apps that will assist you in the streamlining of BSCI audits.

You must, however, note that the apps are different especially according to the auditing firm that makes the apps.

How Can You Tell the Validity or Authenticity of a BSCI Audit?

You can check the authenticity of the BSCI audit by confirming the suppliers name on the first page.

This will indicate that the BSCI report you are about to read belongs to that particular company.

BSCI Report

After that, you will send the report that you receive from the company for proper verification.

In this case, you will get in touch with the BSCI audits to help you verify the authenticity of the report.

You must also look at the dates as the BSCI audit reports are valid for a particular period of time.

How Will You Find Suppliers that are BSCI Audited?

You can find suppliers that are BSCI compliant by doing a proper supplier search over the internet.

During the research, you will have to tick the box BSCI box to filter the results accordingly.

You may find suppliers with false claims of being BSCI accredited prompting you to do proper verifications.

You can also visit trade shows and meet suppliers with BSCI logos which verify them as BSCI compliant.

What Will It Cost My Company to Have a BSCI Audit?

You will have to pay a certain amount of money for the BSCI auditors to audit your company.

Generally, BSCI audits often begin from 650 US dollars per factory audit.

The cost will, however, vary according to the accreditation of the company conducting the BSCI audit.

The higher the accreditation of the auditing company, the higher the cost of the audit.

What is the Hinderance Behind Most Suppliers Not Being BSCI Certified?

The main hinderance behind most suppliers not being BSCI certified is the fact that they cannot pass BSCI audits.

Most suppliers fail to implement the protocols or requirements of the BSCI audits thus leading to total failure.

Can I Conduct BSCI Audits in Any Company?

Absolutely, you can conduct BSCI audits in any company especially if the company deals with consumer goods.

It is, however, very common in the children products as well as the textile industries.

You will find it very hard to have BSCI audits on the electrical companies.

Why Work with Chinese Manufacturer who are BSCI Compliant?

Well, working with Chinese companies who are BSCI compliant will boost your company’s reputation.

It will increase the confidence and trust that people will have within your company.

This includes confidence and trust within the internal organization as well as the external organization.

In effect, it will lead to a proper and prosperous working environment.

Apart from that, your company will stay clear of the governments scrutiny as your business dealings will be clean.

What does the BSCI Audit Checklist consist of?

BSCI Check list

BSCI checklist is a tool that you will use in the assessment of social and ethical policies.

Apart from that, it will come in handy during the assessment of operational procedures and regulations within an organization.

The checklist will help you as an auditor to ensure that you do the following:

• Checking if the documents that you need for auditing are complete
• Assessing the organization in a bid to identify the items that are non-compliant.
• Assignment of corrective actions that the company will use for immediate rectification.
• Recoding of the overall assessments are recommendations
• Signing off the audit with digital signatures in validation of BSCI audits.

In short, once you understand all the critical aspects in this guide, it will be easier to import your products from China.

At Tj chinafreight, we help you comply with all the critical aspects when importing and shipping from China.