Since the end of 2007, sustainable development principles have been integrated into the Group’s 14 main corporate functions. The Group’s internal control unit, whose manager is a member of the sustainable development steering committee, drew up a list of monitoring criteria based on the Global Compact, which are regularly reviewed during audits.
- The administrator’s Charter
In 2003, Groupe SEB brought the administrator’s Charter and the Board’s in-house rules together in a single document so that all the administrators are clearly aware of their roles, rights and responsibilities.
In particular, the administrator’s Charter broaches respect and defence of the public interest, diligence, conflicts of interest, access to information, confidentiality, independence of analysis and the legal system of privileged information. The in-house rules involve the Board’s and Committees’ make-up, functioning, roles and missions, as well as the administrator’s remuneration policy.
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- The Quality Management System
Respect for the environment is a priority, but it must not be achieved by sacrificing quality. Groupe SEB has developed a Quality Management System (QMS) that describes the steps to be taken at every level to guarantee the quality of the products sold and the associated services. QMS involves all Groupe SEB’s business units, processes and sites worldwide. Each business unit, site, position and employee is responsible for the quality of work and for the respect of the rules of the Quality Assurance documents. (See an Extract of Groupe SEB’s Policy).
Management Reviews, by examining the system’s various parts on a regular basis, help to verify the effectiveness of the Group’s processes and to manage the actions required for continuous improvement of the quality of products and processes.
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- Human Rights self assessment
Since 2007, in order to measure respect for Human Rights in its subsidiaries, the Group has implemented a self-assessment tool developed by the Danish Institute for Human Rights: the Human Rights Compliance Assessment (HRCA) Quick Check.
- The Buyer’s Ethical Charter
The Group has drafted a Buyer’s Ethics Code focusing on four areas:
- Upholding the law in every country and making efforts to verify that suppliers do the same;
- Rejecting all financial compensation, gifts and favours;
- Upholding the confidentiality of information that is not indispensable for trade;
- Implementing purchasing methods that stimulate genuine competition between viable suppliers.
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- The suppliers’ eco-declaration
We would like the companies we work with to share our values and ethics and to immerse themselves in our Group policy. That’s why we require all our suppliers to subscribe to our eco-design and environmental approach by signing an eco-declaration by which they pledge to use no substance banned by the law or by the Groupe in the manufacturing processes of the products and components they deliver us.
We have listed the certifications that our European plants’ suppliers have obtained in materials directly used in production, and encouraged the main ones to achieve ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification.
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- The suppliers’ social declaration
Groupe SEB requires all its suppliers in countries considered to be sensitive regarding Human Rights to fill out an SA 8000-style labour rights statement (one of the international standards in this area) which it then monitors for compliance by means of on-the-spot audits.
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Outside commitments
- The Global compact: an international commitment
In 2003, the group signed the
Global Compact, pledging to uphold 10 points relating to human and labour rights, the environment and corruption.
In 2007, Groupe SEB decided to assess the practices of all its sites of more than 10 employees regarding respect for Human Rights, with the the HRCA (Human Rights Compliance Assessment) Quick Check, a self assessment tool developed by the Danish Institute for the Human Rights.
Every year we publish a communication on progress about our actions.
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- The CECED Code of Conduct: the commitment of European household appliance makers
In 2005, Groupe SEB pledged to uphold the nine principles in the CECED Code of Conduct (the CECED is the European Committee of Domestic Equipment Manufacturers). Again, we report on our actions in order to demonstrate the seriousness of our continuous improvement policy.
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- The Diversity Charter, for a receptive company that’s strong because it embraces differences
The quest for diversity is at the heart of our management policy. We know it is a source of a company’s wealth and creativity. That’s why we have signed the Diversity Charter (in France) and welcome everybody, no matter how different they are.
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- The RoHS directive and the REACH regulation
Certain harmful substances must be eliminated from domestic appliances in order to protect consumers’ and employees’ health and guarantee respect of the environment. The RoHS European Directive, which came into force on 1 July 2006, lists a certain number of hazardous materials in order to limit their use by the industry’s manufacturers.
Groupe SEB was a step ahead, drafting its own list in 2003, which includes the items of the RoHS directive and adds others. Today, 100% of Groupe SEB’s products affected by the standard comply with it.
Since end of 2008, Groupe SEB also integrated into its approach the new European measures of
REACH, about extremely hazardous substances.
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- NRE and GRI: a French law, a global practice
Groupe SEB complies with the latest French laws, such as the 2001 Nouvelle Régulations Economiques act (NRE – New Economic Regulations), which requires companies to include the social and environmental protection steps they have taken in their annual reports (see our Corporate and Sustainable Development Report and the NRE/GRI comparative table). When possible, we go even further by following the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) process, which is in line with the NRE Act but has a broader scope of application and more specific requirements.
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