~ Tata Steel reiterates its commitment as a socially responsible corporate body ~

Tata Steel today was awarded the SA 8000 certification for the third time, thereby reaffirming its position as a socially responsible corporate body. The Social Accountability-8000 Management System Certificate was awarded by a Norwegian Det Norske Veritas (DNV) Foundation to Tata Steel for complying with best practices of management for three years. Tata Steel has gone through three cycles of certification in 2004, 2007 and now in 2010.

The presentation ceremony, which pleasantly coincided with the 151st birth anniversary of the Company’s first Chairman Sir Dorabji Tata, was held at the SNTI Auditorium at Jamshedpur. Mr. N R Krishnakumar, Director of Operations, DNV Business Assurance, Mr Prasun Kundu, Chief Auditor from DNV, presented the certificate jointly to Mr H M Nerurkar, Managing Director, Tata Steel, Mr Raghunath Pandey, President, Tata Workers’ Union and Mr Sanjiv Paul, Vice President (Corporate Services), Tata Steel and Chairman of the Managing Review Committee of SA-8000.

Mr Nerurkar in his speech congratulated the employees and the core team of SA-8000 for helping to achieve this feat. He cautioned that as the years pass by, the norms to attain such certificates will become even more stringent and hence the company must strive for more improvement. He also mentioned the need to carry forward the guidelines set by the first Chairman of the Company, Sir Dorabji Tata as early as 1914. He announced that suggestions made by the auditing team of DNV, is being considered and deliberated upon and implementations of which, will be seen in the coming years.

Mr Raghunath Pandey said that Tata Steel achieved the certification due to the Joint Consultation and harmonious relationship between the Union and the Management. He added that Union is also taking proactive measures to popularize the best practices in work ethics, safety and welfare schemes.

Mr Krishnakumar of DNV congratulated Tata Steel for achieving this feat and urged the Company Management to now take over the role of mentor for many other companies.

Mr Mr Sanjiv Paul, Vice President (Corporate Services), Tata Steel and Chairman of the Managing Review Committee of SA-8000, said that Tata Steel in the future, in compliance with all existing standards would also focus on the service areas. Also, the SA8000 standard would require to be better communicated to the contractors, suppliers and vendors. The company will also bring global standards into the working conditions of workers and employees while bringing a business context into stakeholder engagement at all levels.

About SA-8000
SA8000 is a registered trademark of Social Accountability International. It is a management system and an auditable certification standard based on the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention on the Rights of the Child and various International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions. It is a significant management system for Tata Steel as it seeks to protect and empower all personnel within the company’s scope of control and influence, including employees, suppliers/subcontractors, sub-suppliers, and home workers. With a huge and complex workforce, Tata Steel’s commitment towards SA 8000 helps it deal with areas like Child Labour, Health and Safety, strengthening stakeholder engagement and fair business practices.

About DNV
Det Norske Veritas or DNV is a classification society organized as a foundation, with the objective of "Safeguarding life, property, and the environment". The organization's history goes back to 1864, when the foundation was established in Norway to inspect and evaluate the technical condition of Norwegian merchant vessels. DNV describes itself as a provider of services for managing risk.