SMETA Audits
The Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audits (SMETA) methodology enables organisations to assess their sites and suppliers to understand working conditions in their supply chain.
Key Benefits of the SMETA Audit
Demonstrate Your Commitment To Human Rights
Reduce Audit Duplication In Your Supply Chain
Minimise Social Responsibility And Sustainability Risks
What Is SMETA
The Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) is a social audit methodology that assesses all aspects of responsible business practice.
SMETA is the most widely used social audit in the world with over 40,000 audits uploaded onto the SEDEX platform every year. It was designed to minimise duplication of effort and provide members and suppliers with a reliable and consistent audit format.
It combines the requirements of the ETI Base Code, which is founded on the conventions of the International Labour Organisation, as well as relevant local laws.
SMETA audits can be conducted against two or four auditing pillars:
- Two Pillar Audit: The Two Pillar Audit must assess Labour Standards and Health & Safety, Management Systems, Entitlement to Work, Subcontracting and Homeworking, and environment
- Four Pillar Audit: The Four Pillar Audit is the same as the Two Pillar Audit, but includes an Environmental assessment and Business Ethics
Social audits enable businesses to assess their suppliers, monitor health and safety for workers, and signal zero tolerance of human rights abuses such as child and forced labour.
Once an audit is complete, buyer and supplier businesses can work together to address any issues, based on a Corrective Action Plan (CAPR). You need only complete a SMETA audit at a site once and you can share it with multiple customers via the Sedex platform.
Only audit companies (and their auditors) that meet a set of criteria set out by Sedex can conduct SMETA. These are known as a Sedex Affiliate Audit Company (AAC), and are independent organisations from Sedex.
Intertek is one of the largest providers of Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audits (SMETA) conducting on-site SMETA audits at factories around the globe to assess how labour, health and safety, environmental and business ethics standards are being met. Sedex members are then allowed to store, share and report on this information in a secure, online database in an effort to improve working conditions in the global supply chain.
The Road to an Effective Human Rights Due Diligence Program in the Supply Chain
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Frequently Asked Questions
Sedex stands for Supplier Ethical Data Exchange. They are the not-for-profit member organisation that leads work with buyers and suppliers to deliver improvements in responsible and ethical business practices in global supply chains.
Sedex created the SMETA audit procedure, to standardize the way responsible supply chain activities are assessed.
A SMETA audit can be conducted either as a Two Pillar or Four Pillar audit.
A Two Pillar Audit consists of the following aspects:
- Labour Standards
- Health & Safety
- Additional Elements
- Universal Rights covering UNGP
- Management Systems
- Entitlement to Work – Subcontracting and Homeworking
The two additional pillars in a Four Pillar Audit include:
- Environmental
- Business Ethics
All four pillars take into account legal requirements, international standards and good practice.
The length of a SMETA Audit depends on the number of employees in your organisation. Our experience and process allows for an audit to typically last from one to four days on site.
At the end of the audit, a corrective action plan is left with you, and a full report is provided and uploaded to the SEDEX database.
After the auditing process is complete, we work with you to verify the completion of your corrective action plan.
Corporate Social Responsibility Training
As a leading provider of education and training, SAI Global Assurance offers a wide range of training courses to help you learn, plan, implement, assess and improve your management systems.