TÜV Rheinland conducts social audits based on Sedex Virtual Assessment

Virtual audits: maintaining standards in supply chains during coronavirus pandemic

Sedex Virtual Assessment is based on the SMETA catalogue and deals with criteria such as working conditions, occupational safety and hygiene and environmental management. In times of the coronavirus it is sometimes impossible to physically visit locations in order to carry out the required on-site audits. The Sedex Virtual Assessment offers a possibility to check social and ethical aspects in companies and suppliers locations via remote audit if SMETA audits cannot be carried out. "TÜV Rheinland is one of only a few companies to be approved to conduct Sedex Virtual Assessments. Especially under the current corona conditions, these innovative remote audits provide the necessary continuity to maintain and optimize social and ethical principles in companies and their supplier companies," explains Frank Dorssers, Vice President Systems at TÜV Rheinland. As an international provider of testing services TÜV Rheinland carried out more than 1,200 SMETA audits worldwide in 2019.

Extensive experience of TÜV Rheinland

Within the Sedex Virtual Assessments, qualified TÜV Rheinland teams carry out the audits with the help of video technologies. The procedure runs in several phases. First, TÜV Rheinland checks to what extent a location is suitable for the remote audit. This check is based on various criteria defined by Sedex. The remote audit is planned after all required parameters are fulfilled. TÜV Rheinland auditors then take a virtual tour of the company using video technology and examine the site, the management system and the corresponding documentation. "As TÜV Rheinland is already a long-standing Sedex member and has an international team of experienced social auditors, I am sure that we will conduct the virtual assessments timely and professionally," says Frank Dorssers.

After completion of the Sedex Virtual Assessment, companies receive a report which is uploaded to the Sedex platform. With the report, companies emphasize that corporate social responsibility is important to them and that they invest in social and ethical standards especially amid COVID 19.

Further information about TÜV Rheinland’s Sedex audits can be found on www.tuv.com/sedex