Ethical behaviour
Ethical behaviour is intrinsic to the way we conduct our business and is part of our legacy from the founder of the Tata Group, Jamsetji Tata, who believed that business must operate in a way that respects the rights of all its stakeholders and creates an overall benefit for society.
Tata Steel believes in adopting the best practices in terms of corporate governance that have been and continue to be developed. The company conducts all aspects of its business with full transparency and accountability.
Risk management
The Group regularly reviews and updates its risk management system to address the complex risks faced across our global business.
Our risk management process is assured through the Group’s corporate assurance and risk management function with reporting to the Group chief financial officer and reports and recommendations made to the audit committee of the Board.
Business Ethics and our code of conduct
We do not tolerate corrupt or fraudulent practices. We expect honesty, integrity and transparency in all aspects of our business from our employees, contractors and other business counterparts.
Our ethical principles are clearly and unambiguously articulated in the Tata Code of Conduct, to which all Tata Group companies subscribe. Originally written in 1998, the Code was updated in 2008 to better reflect changing expectations within society and the increasingly global scale of the Group’s activities.
Human rights
The Tata Steel Group is proud of its longstanding reputation as a fair and caring employer, and respects all human rights both within and outside the workplace. The Tata Code of Conduct stipulates that all employees have a personal responsibility to help preserve the human rights of everyone at work and in the wider community.
Ethical tin sourcing
Our European packaging business produces tinplate for a global market. We include ethical sourcing protocols in our tin supplier contracts and make a constant effort to have reliable and auditable information concerning the origin of the acquired minerals so we can avoid the use of conflict minerals.
We are cooperating in the tin supply chain with the International Tin Research Institute (ITRI) and are also involved in activities led by the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH). We also work with NGOs such as the Dutch Friends of the Earth.