Corporate Social Responsibility Starts with Quality and Occupational Health and Safety

LinkMisr assesses and monitors the impact of its activities against internationally recognized ISO standards

Published: Wednesday, March 16, 2022 - 15:30

(LinkMisr: Cairo) -- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies aim to guarantee that companies work ethically, considering human rights as well as the social, economic, and environmental impacts of what they do as a business. As more North American companies work with new vendors to address supply chain challenges, CSR considerations must be researched. Recently, Egypt-based shelving and racking manufacturer LinkMisr International launched an aggressive North American expansion program.

Investigating this outreach effort, it was gratifying to learn the company recognizes its corporate and social responsibilities to its shareholders, customers, suppliers, employees, and other stakeholders. Taking an in-depth look at the company’s practices we learned that the Cairo-based firm is committed to conducting business in a manner that achieves sustainable and profitable growth while simultaneously fulfilling its legal and moral obligations.

“LinkMisr aims to achieve our business objectives in a responsible manner recognizing the economic, social, and environmental impacts of our activities,” says LinkMisr’s Simon Armanious. LinkMisr assesses and monitors the impact of its activities against internationally recognized ISO standards including ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001.

Environmental impacts

Minimizing the environmental impact of manufacturing activities is demonstrated through the prevention of pollution, minimizing waste, promoting good environmental management practices, and using environmental management systems which are consistently and rigorously audited through ISO 14001. ISO 14000 is a family of standards related to environmental management that exists to help organizations minimize how their operations negatively affect the environment; comply with applicable laws, regulations, and other environmentally oriented requirements while practicing continuous process improvement.

Health and safety

Too often North American companies presume that global manufacturers all adopt high standards of health and safety. Sadly, this is not always the case. “We recognize our duty of care and the benefits of providing safe working conditions,” says Armanious. He adds that continuous improvement in health and safety management systems attracts and retains great and loyal employees, and these practices are validated in line with ISO 45001.

For organizations that are serious about improving employee safety, reducing workplace risks, and creating better, safer working conditions, ISO 45001 proves best and replaces the former ISO 18001 standard.

Globally more than 7,600 people die from work-related accidents or diseases daily according to the International Labor Organization. The ISO committee for occupational health and safety developed this new standard with the intention of saving almost three million lives a year.

Structured similarly to other ISO management systems, the approach will be familiar to users of standards such as ISO 14001 and ISO 9001. ISO 45001 builds on prior national standards.

Corporate social responsibility: No longer optional

Operating sustainably has become a source of competitive advantage and unlocking its potential relies on building strong stakeholder relationships. New research reveals large consensus gaps between leaders and stakeholders on sustainability performance. This misalignment obstructs the link between sustainability and profitability.

Executives at LinkMisr have strengthened the organizations’ sustainability DNA by adopting a change model to diagnose, define, and develop best-practice performance metrics. By closing consensus gaps and operating more sustainably, businesses like LinkMisr are delivering greater financial value in tandem with positive environmental and societal impact.

About The Author

Thomas R. Cutler

Thomas R. Cutler is the President and CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based, TR Cutler Inc., celebrating its 21st year. Cutler is the founder of the Manufacturing Media Consortium including more than 8000 journalists, editors, and economists writing about trends in manufacturing, industry, material handling, and process improvement. Cutler authors more than 1,000 feature articles annually regarding the manufacturing sector. More than 4,500 industry leaders follow Cutler on Twitter daily at @ThomasRCutler. Contact Cutler at trcutler@trcutlerinc.com.