A new CSR standard in Safeguarding

Using the Datamaran Research Tool, I looked for how many companies are talking about safeguarding in their sustainability reports. It seems, that safeguarding can be applied to just about everything.

• Export Development Canada's 2016 Sustainability Report talks about safeguarding people and the environment 
• Piraeus Bank talks about open communication with employees and safeguarding their ongoing development and elearning for safeguarding of Human Rights and Equal Opportunities in the workplace 
• Wilmar International's 2016 Sustainability Report talks about safeguarding water quality
• Statoil's 2016 Sustainability Report refers to safeguarding people, communities and assets
• Stericycle's 2016 Sustainability Report refers to safeguarding sensitive information and helping protect against identity theft
• Motorola Solutions 2016 Corporate Responsibility Report includes disclosures related to machine safeguarding
• RSA Insurance Group refers to safeguarding customers' data and assets
• American Water Works Co Inc. talks about safeguarding the nation’s long-term water supply as water demand grows
• TDC goes for safeguarding trust and safety
• Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation includes references to safeguarding of storm drains, overfill controls, and extensive use of LED lighting
• SunArt Retail Group Limited includes safeguarding biodiversity
• L'Occitane International SA goes for another type of safeguarding -safeguarding the future of bees while helping to build communities.

In fact, safeguarding has become so popular that I am thinking of safeguarding my personal ice cream supply for the next five years. As you can see, safeguarding can apply to just about anything and the use of the term safeguarding is bandied around quite freely in CSR and sustainability worlds with no real accountability for what safeguarding anything actually means and how to measure it. Maybe this is a shame, because there is one use of the term safeguarding that is arguably the most important use of all: safeguarding vulnerable children, youth and adults. I happen to know a bit about this, as my niece, Sarah Carlick, (Yay! Proud Auntie) is a leading expert on safeguarding in the UK, and runs The Athena Programme, one of the best known and most active consulting and training firms dedicated solely to safeguarding in the important sense of the word. Sarah has just completed her doctoral thesis on safeguarding, so we shall be calling her Dr. Sarah in the very near future! (Yay! Extremely Proud Auntie). Read Sarah's insights into safeguarding in a corporate context later in this post.  

Some companies stand out in their approach to safeguarding vulnerable children and adults. Pearson's Sustainability Report for 2016 includes a commitment to safeguarding adults and children. 

As a company engaged in education and supporting learners all over the world in schools, training and learning centers and other teaching facilities, and even virtual classrooms, human rights risks and challenges are very real for Pearson and it seems quite obvious that safeguarding would be directly relevant to this company's business.

Another company that has a safeguarding focus, and also rather obviously so, is LEGO. With a business designed to engage children, LEGO partners with UNICEF to implement and globally promote the Children’s Rights and Business Principles developed by UNICEF, the UN Global Compact and Save the Children, and to promote the importance of play for early childhood development. LEGO's 2016 Corporate Responsibility Report also discloses what LEGO is doing to safeguard children.

LEGO's Digital Child Safety Policy was developed as an industry leading practice to ensure the welfare of children interacting with digital channels. The policy is implemented through mandatory training for employees who work directly or indirectly with children online and also applies to partners who deliver LEGO® branded experiences.

Online safety is relevant not only for companies in the education and toy development sectors. It comes up regularly as a key material topic for companies that provide internet or media content. For example, Liberty Global (whose reporting I have supported for the past several years) has invested millions in protection of children while online and watching TV (one of the company's most material impacts) through collaboration on the development of an entire set of resources for children at different stages of development and exposure, parents, teachers and schools. In 2015, Liberty Global joined the ICT Coalition for Children Online, which aims to help young people in Europe make the most of their digital life and be better equipped to handle the challenges and risks it may bring. 

There are more positive examples of safeguarding out there, enough to convince you that safeguarding is an essential element of corporate responsibility. (For those who want a fascinating and sobering read on this subject, see also Joel Bakan's Childhood Under Siege: How Big Business Targets Children). Many companies, especially food companies, have responsible marketing policies where the aim is not to market directly to children under age 12 - though in practice, exposure of children to marketing in all its forms today is impossible to monitor, I believe. Most companies today explicitly prohibit child labor in their supply chains. That's an obvious one in modern times, I guess, even though there is still much work to do to achieve safe supply chains. But there are endless, not so obvious other ways that children are exposed to and are potentially at risk from the practices of corporations. This may be unintentional but it should not be unknown. Corporations have a duty of care to understand the impacts of their activities on children. I believe, however, that this topic in the broader sense of safeguarding vulnerable children and adults has flown largely under the radar and is not explicitly included in sustainability frameworks and standards such as GRI or SASB, beyond responsible marketing and avoidance of child labor. I think this could be a new area for a potential performance and reporting standard.

I want you to hear from the expert herself, Sarah Carlick, Founder and Managing Director of The Athena Programme.

Why did you choose safeguarding as your area of specialist expertise?
"Safeguarding was my background as a social worker and probation officer which I was drawn to because of my passion for helping and protecting vulnerable people. Through my work and experience of safeguarding at both a national and international level, I am now able to incorporate all areas of this important and complex topic under one umbrella which I think is the most effective way of achieving results to benefit those that are vulnerable or at risk of harm."

In a business context, what are the connections to safeguarding? What are the key safeguarding risks for companies? 
"Governance, compliance, reputation, recruitment, social media communications, customer relations and interactions are all areas where safeguarding is a relevant potential risk that must be proactively managed. For companies or organizations that have services that are used or may be used by children, families or vulnerable adults, there may well be legal compliance issues (in different countries) as well a range of potential risk areas that are not currently legislated. While businesses often look outside for the impacts of safeguarding (for example, with services used by children), there is also an internal aspect. How do companies support their own employees who may be victims of domestic abuse, for example? I think there are many connections between the practices of business and corporate responsibility to protect vulnerable children and adults, and some may not be so obvious."

Does every company need a safeguarding policy? Can you give some examples of where such a policy might be needed?
"Not every company needs a policy, but some are required to have a policy and set of procedures, for example, those that are regulated or inspected, those that apply for external funding, or those that have residential services, schools, a charitable arm, or where they employ apprentices, teachers, mentors, nurses, dentists or manage learning environments, to mention just a few cases."

In what context is it important to train company employees in safeguarding?
"It is important as safeguarding is two-fold - both protecting and supporting your staff and as well as protecting and supporting those that use your services. There are many areas that come under safeguarding, for example, modern slavery, child sexual exploitation, on-line grooming and emerging risks such as prevention from radicalization."

What can you and The Athena Programme do to help companies practice effective safeguarding? 
"Whatever your needs, Athena can help any company with everything to do with safeguarding children and/or adults at risk. If it’s about safeguarding – we’re the experts. A first step we can help with for many companies will be to map the nature, scale and impact of their activities and identify the safeguarding hotspots - immediate and/or significant risks that need to be managed. From there, we can help companies develop tailored policies and procedures, formulate communications packages, deliver training for all staff and put in place monitoring and reporting tools. For companies who are not sure, we can or simply come and speak to your management, or deliver a lecture on what to watch for. We are always happy to listen to the challenges companies face, or help them decide what the challenges are and minimize potential risks. We have strong credentials from our work over the past 10 years, so we are confident that we can help companies do better in this area."

If you are interested in exploring more, contact Sarah here. Either way, I think we are going to hear a lot more about safeguarding, and not just safeguarding anything, but safeguarding those who matter most, our children and our youth and our friends and families and communities who may not be able to protect themselves. If that's not CSR, what is?




elaine cohen, CSR Consultant, Sustainability Reporter, former HR Professional, Trust Across America 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award honoree, Ice Cream Addict, Author of three totally groundbreaking books on sustainability (see About Me page). Contact me via Twitter (@elainecohen) or via my business website www.b-yond.biz (Beyond Business Ltd, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm). Need help writing your first / next Sustainability Report? Contact elaine: info@b-yond.biz 

Elaine will be chairing  the edie Conference on Smarter Sustainability Reporting  in London on 27th February 2018

Between the Lines in CSR Reports

I consider it a great privilege to do the work that I do, helping companies develop a strategic approach to corporate responsibility and account for their impacts on society through reporting. While, in general, I am guided by a business approach to corporate responsibility and sustainability, with lots of formal frameworks and disclosures and numbers and charts and value accounting in different forms, some things just make you sit up and stand back and realize again that, ultimately, it's all about people, relationships and solidarity. My work exposes me to the so many ways that companies touch people's lives that even the longest Sustainability Report in the world could never even begin to capture the positive ripple effects on individuals and communities. There are some things so inspiring and so moving that they truly change your awareness and appreciation of the real meaning of community at work. The workplace does not have to be only somewhere you go to earn a paycheck or learn new skills. It can be a place where people thrive and help others to thrive, and this is something you just can't adequately reflect in a Report. I am often deeply moved by the dedication and selflessness of individuals as I talk to so many people in the course of gathering information for the reports that I work on with different companies. I have many stories, but this one, this week, was exceptional. 

I am working on helping to prepare the Caesars Entertainment Corporation Citizenship Report for 2014-2015, the third G4 report that Caesars will publish later this year. We have a lot of numbers to crunch and narrative to edit before then! But in meantime, I have had the privilege to connect directly with some of the Caesars HEROs. HEROs is Caesars long standing corporate volunteering initiative that engages thousands of employees, collectively clocking up almost 200,000 hours each year to engage with causes they are passionate about, including initiatives funded by the Caesars Foundation. The opportunities that Caesars Entertainment creates for employees to get active in their communities help employees enrich their own lives and the lives of others in incredible ways. There are so many HEROs throughout the Caesars organization and each one is deserving of recognition. I have had the good fortune to connect with several during the work on this and prior Citizenship Reports and all are equally inspiring. The one that prompted this post is the story of Joan Bish, Boat Operations Supervisor at Horseshoe Hammond Casino. 

Joan is a dedicated volunteer, donating hundreds of hours of her time each year to several causes. One is the Employee Garden where employees come together to nurture vegetables and sell the resulting produce, directing funds to a local food bank to help in the  fight against hunger. Another is the St.Baldrick's Foundation's event, where employees shave their heads or donate their locks to raise money for childhood cancer research. And at the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, Joan completed a walk of more than 50 miles. However, what really caught my eye and captured my emotions was the initiative Joan undertook to recognize, support and pay tribute to fellow workers who are fighting their battle with cancer. In a personal mission, covering hours of travel across two U.S. states and visiting with 7 families, Joan created a video that is... well.. I have no more words. Watch it for yourself. 

Watching this video brought home to me the many ways that workplaces become communities of people, good people who want to be good to others, who want to leave a legacy of good and who actually do. The opportunities that companies create that enable employees to step up and get involved are probably one of the most important  aspects of corporate citizenship, and so often, we report that as a number or a result in a chart. There is no chart than can express the profound meaning of this kind of activity and no spreadsheet that can express the way this activity truly enriches lives. That's why I had to stop and share my reflections with you. Perhaps there may be some inspiration you can gain from this in your workplace. 

Perhaps this story touched me so specifically because, just a couple of years ago, my dearest sister-in law heartbreakingly lost her battle with ovarian cancer at the young age of 63 after a three year heroic fight with the support of our family and community. Ovarian cancer is the one that, by the time it's diagnosed, it's usually too late, as it creeps up on women, almost symptomless, until it's so deeply embedded in your body that you can never cut it out. Early detection is the only way to beat ovarian cancer, and new research proves that. I am incredibly proud of my two nieces who, as they continue to suffer the pain of losing their mother, maintain the fight to raise awareness for ovarian cancer, support cancer research and help women be proactive about demanding tests for early detection. My niece, Sarah, who runs her own consultancy, The Athena Programme, that supports safeguarding of children in our communities and workplaces, was interviewed this week for the local news in the UK.

As, during this period, I am deeply embedded in "reporting season",  which consumes pretty much all my time and energy for several months, I have to put my other true passion, blogging about reporting (you know I am a geek) on a back-burner until I resurface in another few weeks. But I couldn't help stopping everything and writing this post to recognize Caesars, all the hundreds of Caesars HEROs including Joan, Sarah and Susan (my nieces) and all the unsung heroes who are making the world a better place. It's worth remembering that, as you look at numbers and charts in Sustainability Reports, there's a another dimension that's only visible between the lines, but it's no less relevant and probably, in the long run, more important.

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainability Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of Understanding G4: the Concise Guide to Next Generation Sustainability Reporting  AND  Sustainability Reporting for SMEs: Competitive Advantage Through Transparency AND CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices . Contact me via Twitter (@elainecohen)  or via my business website www.b-yond.biz   (Beyond Business Ltd, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm).  Need help writing YOUR Sustainability Report? Contact elaine: info@b-yond.biz