INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS PAGES
building trainings and grievance
mechanisms.
Solution by technology platform
Most of the technology solutions de-
signed to support supply chain human
rights risk management are desktop-
based platforms. These solutions are
used primarily by companies to review,
analyse, and share relevant data about
labour risks in their supply chains.
Desktop-based solutions represent
about two-thirds of the current technol-
ogy offering in the market; more than
a third of those are also available in
mobile versions.
A newer category of technology on the
market is mobile-based applications
dedicated to enabling workers and
other rightsholders to use their mobile
phones to communicate about work-
ing conditions, raise grievances, or
access information about their work-
place and their labour rights.
Some technology solutions combine
worker-facing mobile applications with
desktop-based assessment tools for
companies to assess supply chain
labour risk. For example, workers may
be sent a brief survey about their work-
ing conditions via text message. Re-
sponses can then be analysed across
facilities and geographies participating
in the program to identify trends and
prioritize areas of the supply chain that
would benefit from further engagement.
Another category of technology solu-
tion increasingly applied to help man-
age human rights risk in companies’
supply chains is block chain. Block
chain, a digital, inherently secure led-
ger solution, can be utilized to improve
transparency along supply chains, trac-
ing the chain of custody of inputs up-
stream to their source. Companies can
thereby map raw and processed ma-
terials with confidence to ethical pro-
ducers, even if deep within their sup-
ply chain.
Finally, technology solutions develop-
ers are exploring the application of ar-
tificial intelligence (AI) and machine
learning (ML) – a subset of AI – to help
companies address supply chain hu-man rights risk. Through AI and ML,
massive quantities of data can be used
to “train” algorithms to generate predic-
tive risk models for companies. These
applications may be able to forecast
for companies where and how human
rights issues are likely to arise in their
supply chains.
Some of the key technology solutions
and applications currently in the mar-
ket include: worker voice and engage-
ment tools, risk assessment tools, and
solutions enabling capacity building
and training. Through these solutions,
companies can enhance and augment
their ability to protect rightsholders in
their supply chains. Each technology
application offers specific benefits in
that regard.
Worker Voice Tools
Worker voice tools allow companies to
hear from workers in real time on an
ongoing basis rather than just once
during an audit, thereby allowing for
analysis of trends and spotting emerg-
ing issues before they become human
rights impacts. In this way, they can
serve as an early warning system to
companies, helping them proactively
respond to issues before they become
systemic or severe. Intelligence gath-
ered through worker voice tools can
also help companies prioritize the high-
est risk parts of the supply chain for
engagement.
The tools also offer the potential to
reach a wider set of workers through
surveys than what would be feasible
in a traditional audit with the potential
for more accurate data. A representa-
tive from a solutions provider inter-
viewed for this report noted that, “In
India and Bangladesh, our data shows
that one in four workers have experi-
enced harassment – it is hard to get
something like that from audit.”
Such tools may include horizonal com-
munication functionality, meaning work-
ers can communicate securely with
each other through the platform. An
opportunity for workers to engage di-
rectly offers particular value from a
human rights perspective in countries
NCM-MARCH 2020
50where the right to freedom of associa-
tion is not protected. The tools may
also be designed to provide supply
chain workers access to remedy for
adverse human rights impacts, and
enable better follow up through two-way
communication.
However, worker voice programs have
received criticism for several reasons.
In some cases, they are seen as con-
tributing to the “standards without en-
forcement.” There is also concern that
these tools have the potential to vio-
late the privacy of workers using the
tools, either through sharing of infor-
mation with supplier management
teams or third parties – such as law
enforcement – without the consent of
the employees providing their input.
Ultimately, the efficacy of worker voice
tools depends on companies’ ability
and willingness to implement such pro-
grams responsibly, including by follow-
ing through on remediation commit-
ments. Experts interviewed for this
report also voiced concern about in-
consistency in closing the feedback
loop with workers who participated in
a worker voice survey. A representa-
tive of a solutions provider stated for
example: “After workers have given
their input, companies do not always
do enough to get back to workers to
share findings and commit to steps
they will take to address the issues.
Too often, companies make this a one-
way street.”
Risk Assessment Solutions
As risk assessment tools are applied,
the process of evaluating suppliers it-
self becomes a signal to those firms
that human rights performance is a
measure against which they are being
evaluated and considered. Risk as-
sessment tools that establish the im-
portance of this measure early in the
process, for example, by asking sup-
pliers about their human rights policies
during the pre-qualification stage, have
the ability to accomplish this signaling
at a broad scale.
Contracting companies can also use
the findings of risk assessment tools