1. Anchoring Accountability

Anchoring accountability involves having relevant policies in place, as well as effective management systems for implementing and monitoring them. For CBK, this means having a sustainability strategy and being clear with our partners, both customers and suppliers, about our shared responsibility to ensure fundamental human rights and decent working conditions.

At CBK, we have clear guidelines for our suppliers and internal processes, which we expect to be followed.

2. Mapping CBK's Impact

Mapping involves identifying the risk of negative impacts internally in our business and throughout our supply chain. At CBK, we continuously conduct risk assessments and utilize risk assessment tools as part of our management system in this effort.

As a distributor, we operate in an industry where there is partially high risk of unethical labor practices. This necessitates prioritizing internal procedures, providing comprehensive training, and collaborating closely with our business partners, customers, and suppliers.

Working on a risk-based approach means prioritizing the examination of areas with the highest risk and where our company has the greatest influence. When conducting risk assessments, we look for risks related to the right to life, the right to health, occupational health and safety (HMS), the right to freedom and absence of coercion (forced labor), the right to childhood (child labor), the right to free movement, the right to equality, the right to work, and the right to livelihood security.

3. Stopping, Preventing, and Reducing Negative Impact

We work systematically to ensure accountability and social sustainability in our business and supply chain.

Health, safety, and the environment are central to CBK's operations. To safeguard the health and safety of our employees, we offer top health insurance through Gjensidige, including treatment insurance. Annual fire drills are conducted at all our locations, and new hires go through an onboarding process that includes showing them emergency exits, fire extinguishers, assembly points in case of fire, etc.

Follow-up and control throughout the year are anchored in an action plan that includes safety inspections, quarterly HSE themes, employee surveys, and development discussions.

CBK employees are covered by Norwegian law and tariff conditions. All CBK employees have written employment contracts, freedom of association, access to occupational health services, pension schemes, fruit at work, access to training facilities, and more.

All new suppliers must accept and adhere to our ethical guidelines for suppliers (Code of Conduct for Suppliers), which covers working conditions, human rights, wages, forced labor, child labor, and corruption.

According to CBK's procurement process, suppliers are prequalified before agreements are made. Prequalification is done in relation to the risk assessment for the respective supplier or product to be delivered. The procedure covers the procurement of goods and services from suppliers where our annual purchases exceed NOK 50,000 and all suppliers that have a direct impact on the quality of our goods/services (e.g., logistics services) and are relevant to our significant environmental aspects. New suppliers are asked to respond to our survey before cooperation is considered, and already approved suppliers are evaluated at least once every three years.

We have recently invested in an openness law module through House of Control, which will help us much more effectively obtain documentation on quality and environmental work from suppliers/manufacturers.

All CBK manufacturers/suppliers are asked to sign the Code of Conduct and The Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact, and provide a Declaration of Conformity for the products. We have procedures and process maps that describe the steps that must be taken before making purchases.

At CBK, a deviation handling system has been established that we encourage everyone in the company to use if they become aware of reprehensible conditions, working conditions, the social environment at work, customer viewpoints/complaints, accidents, or other incidents. Deviations are reviewed in monthly ISO meetings with the management team.

4. Follow-up

CBK conducts regular evaluations and audits of our due diligence assessments, measures, and plans to ensure compliance with our commitments. We do this through internal audits with Samcert, external audits with RISE, in addition to monthly ISO meetings with the management team.

5. Communication

CBK aims to be transparent about the assessments made and ensure constructive dialogue with all our stakeholders, whether they are customers, suppliers, owners, employees, etc.

CBK publishes an annual sustainability report, which provides a comprehensive overview of our work. Click here to read our ESG report for 2023.

Learn more about how we fulfill our corporate social responsibility here.