Social and Environmental Practices

Our social and environmental practices are important in embedding sustainability in our supply chain management approach, and the standards we expect from our suppliers are described in our Supply Chain Responsibility Policy. This forms part of a wider set of Supplier Policies.

Ethical Procurement

In regard to ethical procurement, our policy  is based on the standards adopted by the UN through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the ILO Conventions.

The standards we apply are as follows:

• The law is applied. 
• Employment is freely chosen. 
• Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are respected. 
• Working conditions are safe and healthy. 
• Child labour is eliminated. 
• Living wages are paid. 
• Working hours are not excessive. 
• No discrimination is allowed. 
• Regular employment is provided. 
• No harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed.

We require all suppliers to comply with our policy and we reserve the right not to do business with companies where it can be demonstrated that significant violations of the policy exist. In particular, we will not bring companies onto our supplier list where there is evidence of under-age workers; forced, bonded or involuntary prison labour; or where the supplier’s workers are found to be subjected to potential life threatening working conditions or harsh or inhumane treatment.

Environmental Procurement

Our  policy  supplements O2's internal efforts to help protect and sustain the environment, and is an integral part of our ISO14001 accredited Environmental Management System. Our aim is to drive our objectives for sustainable development deeper into the supply chain, and work with our suppliers to help minimise the impact of their activities.

Suppliers will be required to:

• comply with all relevant environmental legislation (including but not limited to waste, emissions, and noise), acting in a preventive way to avoid pollution.
• implement corrective action plans and to have programmes in place for improving environmental performance.

Telefónica will look favourably upon suppliers who:

• have an up-to-date, documented, Environmental Policy including commitment to environmental protection, prevention of pollution, compliance with environmental legislation, continuous improvement and to procure in line with its policy;
  
• have a documented Environmental Management System to ensure effective planning, operation and control of environmental aspects. This Environmental Management System shall satisfy the requirements of ISO 14 001 or other internationally recognized standards;

During the period of any contract we expect suppliers to make all reasonable efforts to support initiatives or targets that O2 may from time to time introduce where the initiatives are relevant to their area of the O2 supply chain, e.g. Energy consumption reduction targets.

Examples of where we work with suppliers range from sourcing recycled paper for all of our marketing material, through to energy saving initiatives with our major network equipment suppliers.