Social responsibility and work conditions : building a reference label, Démarche T® Sylvain Biquand a and Benoit Zittel b a Abilis ergonomie, 10 rue Oberkampf, 75011, Paris, France b Anthropie, 132 Boulevard Baille, 13005, Marseille, France Abstract. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now considered in large and global companies and the recent publication of the ISO 26000 standard clarifies the targets. Based on our consultancy’s experience for fifteen years in ergonomics mainly in French small and medium enterprises, we developed a label to coax and value efforts of companies in dealing with health and safety at the work place as required by ISO 26000 paragraph 6.4. The formal approach of ISO describes what should be achieved but gives no cue on how actual conditions of work should be improved. The label, called Démarche T (ie Process W where W stands for work) aims the management of work conditions as a process, giving visibility and credit to companies for their continuous involvement in the matter. We describe the items and processes that are part of our assessment. We first conduct an ergonomic diagnosis including the analysis of records on health, physical and psychological well-being, observations at the workplace and interviews with the workers. This diagnosis is followed by recommendations. The fulfillment of these is assessed yearly. Items under assessment include: - ergonomics, health and safety in the companies statements and their impact in actual project management; - relations with workers through the committee for health and safety; - actual results on health, safety and work conditions. On a local level, we give the companies passing the label a competitive edge in recruiting better candidates motivated by good work conditions, and help them fulfill ISO 26000 requirements, an increasingly decisive advantage to benefit from public regional and European support. Our paper describes the diagnosis and follow-up process. Keywords: ISO 26000, ergonomics, work conditions, social responsibility 1. Introduction Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now considered in large and global companies and the recent publication of the ISO 26000 standard clarifies the targets. Based on our consultancy’s experience for fifteen years in ergonomics mainly in French small and medium enterprises, we developed a label to coax and value efforts of companies in dealing with health and safety at the work place as required by ISO 26000 paragraph 6.4. [1]. The formal approach of ISO describes what should be achieved but gives no cue on how actual conditions of work should be improved. The label, called Démarche T ® (T stands for travail ie work) aims the management of work conditions as a process, giving visibility and credit to companies for their continuous involvement in the matter. We describe the items and processes that are part of our assessment. Démarche T is based on an initial diagnosis of work condition in the company following the methods of ergonomics intervention: observations and work analysis, documentary analysis, and interviews with workers on the workplace, the Human Resources management, the top and field production management and the hygiene and safety committee representing workers. After this initial diagnosis, a set of recommendation is submitted to the firm. Through examples taken from our diagnosis in the company, we train the workers representatives and the direction in understanding physical and psychological work conditions and the leverage factors for improvement. The company management and operational staff are trained through action and project analysis to take charge of all aspects of work conditions. Démarche T (T process) helps enterprises to define and follow the management of work conditions. The predicaments are in line with ISO 26000 requirements on sustainable development including the preservation of the human resource. * * Corresponding authors e-mail: sbiquand@ergonome.com b.zittel@anthropie.net Work 41 (2012) 2097-2100 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-2012-0437-2097 IOS Press 1051-9815/12/$27.50 © 2012 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved 2097