GRI GRI 408-1 Operations and suppliers at significant risk for incidents of child labor

Home GRI 408-1 Operations and suppliers at significant risk for incidents of child labor
UNGC
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PRINCIPLE 1Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights.
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PRINCIPLE 2Make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.
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PRINCIPLE 4The elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labor.
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PRINCIPLE 5The effective abolition of child labor.
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PRINCIPLE 7Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges.
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PRINCIPLE 8Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility.

GRI 408-1 Operations and suppliers at significant risk for incidents of child labor

Bracell does not have, and has never had, operations involving child labor or young workers exposed to hazardous work.

We consider operations that carry potential risks of child labor or hazardous tasks involving young workers to include planting, road construction and maintenance, and the maintenance of forestry machinery and equipment. These operations are located in the regions where our industrial sites are based, namely in the states of São Paulo and Bahia, including areas operated by third parties.

We have strict preventive measures in place to mitigate any risk related to this issue. For contractor workers, we require documentation and conduct regular visits to forestry operations, carried out by our Internal Audit and Certification teams.

During onboarding for both employees and contractor, our Code of Conduct is presented and made available in printed and online versions, accessible via QR code, along with documents such as our Anti-Corruption and Anti-Bribery Policy and the Human Rights Policy, available on Bracell’s website. Our Human Rights Policy, which applies to employees, contractors, and subcontractors, emphasizes our zero-tolerance stance on child labor and forced or compulsory labor.

All contracts signed with third parties or subcontractors include standard clauses that ensure zero tolerance for child labor.

Child labor is listed in our compliance matrix as a serious violation. Identified potential causes include: activities with long shifts and high demand for operational labor; high levels of outsourcing; and lack of monitoring at worksites managed by contractors, especially in rural areas.

Audits of operations

We conduct both internal and external audits to manage environmental, social, management, and quality requirements. These requirements are assessed against the ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) requirements. We also undergo external audits based on the IFC (International Finance Corporation) Performance Standards at our Lençóis Paulista (SP) site, a requirement in connection with the finance secured for Project Star—two newbuild flexible pulp lines, in operation since 2021.

Audits are periodically carried out in contractors’ operations to ensure compliance with internal policies and environmental, safety, and ethics standards.