Dictionary

Collective term for tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold — four minerals whose extraction and trade have been linked to financing armed conflict, and which are covered by dedicated due diligence legislation.

The rate at which workers are absent from work because of incapacity of any kind, used as an indicator of workforce health, wellbeing and working conditions.

Accessibility is the design of environments, products, services, information or workplaces so people with disabilities and diverse needs can use them.

A civil-society coalition that publishes the Accountability Framework — consensus-based guidance for companies to set, implement and disclose commitments on deforestation, ecosystem conversion and human rights.

Poisoning caused by short-term exposure to pesticides, a major occupational and public health problem concentrated among farmers and farmworkers in low- and middle-income countries.

An adequate wage is pay assessed as sufficient under the applicable legal, collective-bargaining or normative framework, which may not be identical to a living wage.

Workplace safety measures that change the way people work — such as rotation, scheduling and procedures — ranked as the fourth tier of the hierarchy of hazard controls.

Adverse impacts are negative effects on people, the environment, rights, communities or systems connected to an organisation, product, activity or relationship.

Affected communities are groups of people whose rights, wellbeing, livelihoods, environment or cultural heritage may be changed by an organisation's operations or value chain.

An aggregator is an actor that combines products, materials or data from multiple sources before sale, processing or onward transfer.

The active, ongoing practice of using one's own position or privilege to advocate with — not merely for — people from marginalised or underrepresented groups.

amfori BSCI is a supply-chain social compliance programme focused on improving working conditions through a common code of conduct and monitoring approach.

In Philippine law, the territories held by indigenous peoples since time immemorial under native title — recognised as private but communal property that cannot be sold or disposed of.

The loss of effectiveness of antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines as microbes evolve resistance — a top-ten global health threat driven by misuse in medicine, farming and pollution.

Mining by individuals, families, groups or cooperatives with little or no mechanisation, often informal — a poverty-driven livelihood for millions and a persistent due-diligence challenge in mineral supply chains.

A person who has sought — or intends to seek — international protection in another country and whose claim has not yet been decided; distinct from a recognised refugee.

The rate at which employees leave an organisation without their positions being refilled — a workforce-shrinkage metric distinct from turnover, used in social reporting.

Audit fatigue is the burden and reduced effectiveness that can arise when suppliers face repeated, overlapping or poorly coordinated assessments.

A customs accreditation for businesses that meet supply-chain security and compliance standards, granting facilitated trade treatment under the WCO SAFE Framework.

The felt outcome of inclusion — employees' sense of being accepted, valued and safe to be themselves — added to DEI frameworks as the "B" in DEIB.

Bonded labour is work demanded as repayment for a debt or obligation where the worker's freedom to leave or repay is constrained.

A chain-of-custody model in which verified attributes are represented by transferable instruments that move through an administrative system separately from the physical material flow and are retired to...

Clinically diagnosable illnesses traceable to specific contaminants or conditions inside a building — distinct from the symptom cluster of sick building syndrome.

Repeated, harmful mistreatment of workers — individually or by a group ("mobbing") — recognised under ILO Convention 190 as violence and harassment in the world of work.

An occupational phenomenon in ICD-11 — exhaustion, cynicism and reduced efficacy from chronic, unmanaged workplace stress — not classified as a medical condition.

The field built on the UN Guiding Principles: states' duty to protect human rights, businesses' responsibility to respect them, and access to remedy for victims.

A 2010 California law requiring large retailers and manufacturers to disclose publicly what they do to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from their supply chains.

Canada's modern-slavery reporting law, in force since 1 January 2024, requiring covered entities to file annual public reports on their efforts against forced and child labour in supply chains.

Capacity building is support that helps people or organisations develop the knowledge, systems, resources or practices needed to meet expectations.

An agent, mixture or exposure capable of causing cancer — classified by the IARC Monographs into evidence-based groups that anchor chemical regulation worldwide.

The paid and unpaid labour of caring for people — childcare, eldercare, health and domestic work — recognised by the ILO as a distinct, under-valued pillar of economies.

Cascading requirements are obligations or expectations passed from one organisation to its suppliers and then further through lower tiers of the supply chain.

A system for controlling materials, products and associated information so that specified characteristics and claims can be transferred through stages of a supply chain.

The intrinsic capacity of a chemical to cause harm — classified globally under the GHS into physical, health and environmental hazard classes.

The systematic governance of chemicals across procurement, storage, use and disposal — operationalised in supply chains by frameworks such as ZDHC's Roadmap to Zero.

Work that children are too young to perform or work that, because of its nature or conditions, harms their health, safety, development or education under applicable international and national standards.

Repeated, low-level contact with pesticides over months or years — via farm work, residues, water or air — linked to cancer, neurological, endocrine and reproductive harm.

The grief felt in response to experienced or anticipated ecological losses from climate change — of species, ecosystems, landscapes and ways of life.

An intentional community model combining private homes with extensive shared spaces and resident-led management.

Collective bargaining is negotiation between workers' representatives and employers over working conditions, pay, rights or other employment matters.

Rights held by a group as a group — such as Indigenous peoples' rights to lands, territories and self-determination.

A legally binding contract between a developer and community representatives guaranteeing specific local benefits from a project.

Community consultation is engagement with affected communities to understand views, concerns, evidence and preferences before or during decisions that may affect them.

A shared plot of land gardened collectively by community members, typically in urban areas.

Community investment is voluntary or strategic support for local communities through funding, infrastructure, services, partnerships or capacity building.

The legally recognised or customary rights of communities and Indigenous peoples to own, manage and use their lands and forests.

A nonprofit, community-governed organisation that holds land permanently to keep housing and other assets affordable.

A community-authored statement of its values, customary laws and rights, used to assert terms of engagement over lands and traditional knowledge.

A workspace large enough to enter but with restricted entry/exit and not designed for continuous occupancy, regulated because of lethal hazards.

Conflict-affected and high-risk areas are places where conflict, weak governance or serious abuses create heightened risks for business activity and supply chains.

The electronics industry initiative (2008–2017) that built the tools used worldwide for conflict-minerals due diligence, renamed the RMI in 2017.

A sourcing commitment that commodity production must not cause or contribute to the conversion of any natural ecosystem — broader than deforestation-free.

A form of housing tenure in which residents collectively own or control their homes through a cooperative, buying shares and governing democratically.

A corrective action plan is a documented plan setting out actions, responsibilities and timelines to address identified gaps, findings or non-conformities.

The legacy of physical artefacts, sites and intangible practices inherited from past generations, protected under UNESCO conventions and social safeguards.

Musculoskeletal injuries that develop gradually from repeated motions or sustained postures — a major occupational-health category in global supply chains.

Community-derived systems of rules governing land, resources and conduct, recognised in international indigenous-rights instruments alongside statutory law.

A deforestation cut-off date is the reference date after which land conversion or deforestation may make a product, site or claim ineligible under a rule or standard.

An OSHA safety metric measuring workplace injuries and illnesses serious enough to cause days away from work, restricted duty or job transfer.

A worker hired and paid by the day, typically without job security or benefits — a defining category of informal employment in agriculture and construction.

Debt bondage is a form of forced labour in which a person pledges labour or services to repay a debt under exploitative or unclear conditions.

The variety of food groups consumed, used by FAO as a validated proxy for micronutrient adequacy — most prominently in the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women indicator.

The gap between people with meaningful access to digital technologies and those without — across access, skills and realised benefits.

Ensuring people with disabilities — over a billion worldwide — can participate fully, by removing physical, attitudinal and systemic barriers.

The forced movement of people from their homes due to conflict, violence, persecution, disasters or environmental change — internally or across borders.

Diversity, equity and inclusion is a set of organisational practices concerned with representation, fair access and belonging across different groups.

Downstream refers to activities, customers, users or impacts that occur after an organisation sells, distributes or transfers goods, services or products.

A resolution that ends a refugee's or displaced person's displacement permanently — voluntary repatriation, local integration, or resettlement.

"A chronic fear of environmental doom" — distress about climate change and ecological loss, recognised by the APA as a rational response, not a diagnosis.

EcoVadis is a sustainability assessment platform that rates companies across environmental, labour, human rights, ethics and procurement themes using its own methodology.

Enhanced due diligence is a deeper level of review applied where risk indicators, context or exposure require more evidence and scrutiny than routine checks.

Equal remuneration is the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, without discrimination.

Ethical sourcing is procurement or sourcing activity that considers labour, human rights, environmental and business-conduct expectations alongside commercial requirements.

Excessive overtime is working time beyond legal, contractual or health-and-safety limits, or beyond what is freely agreed and manageable.

An exporter of record is the party formally responsible for export documentation, declarations and compliance for a shipment leaving a jurisdiction.

Fair recruitment is recruitment that respects workers' rights, avoids deception or coercion and does not create exploitative conditions.

Family-related leave is time away from work connected with childbirth, adoption, parenting, caregiving or serious family needs.

First mile refers to the earliest stage of a supply chain, often where raw materials are produced, harvested, collected or first aggregated.

FLEGT refers to Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade, an EU-linked policy approach focused on legal timber and forest governance.

Work or service exacted from a person under the menace of a penalty and for which that person has not offered themselves voluntarily.

A collective right of Indigenous Peoples to make decisions about activities affecting them or their territories freely, before authorisation, on the basis of accessible information, including the ability to...

Freedom of association is the right of workers and employers to form and join organisations of their choosing without undue interference.

Gender equity is fairness in treatment, opportunity and outcomes across genders, taking account of different needs, barriers and contexts.

The gender pay gap is the difference in average pay between women and men or between gender groups within a workforce or defined population.

A grievance channel is a route through which workers, communities or other affected people can raise concerns, complaints or harms.

A process through which affected people can raise concerns, obtain a fair response and seek remedy, while generating learning without restricting access to other legitimate avenues.

An ongoing process through which a business identifies, prevents, mitigates, tracks and communicates how it addresses actual and potential human-rights impacts, and enables remedy where it has caused or...

A human rights impact assessment is a structured process for identifying, assessing and addressing actual or potential human rights impacts.

Human trafficking is the recruitment, transport, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people through coercion, deception or abuse of vulnerability for exploitation.

The strictest chain-of-custody model, keeping certified material physically separate and traceable to one identifiable source through the whole supply chain.

The strictest chain-of-custody model, keeping certified material physically separate and traceable to one identifiable source through the whole supply chain.

An importer of record is the party formally responsible for import documentation, declarations, duties and compliance for goods entering a jurisdiction.

Indigenous peoples' rights are collective and individual rights held by Indigenous peoples, including rights related to lands, culture, self-determination and participation.

The informal economy comprises work and enterprises not fully covered by formal legal, tax, social protection or labour arrangements.

A managed shift towards an environmentally sustainable economy that advances decent work, social inclusion and poverty eradication while ensuring affected people help shape and share the transition.

Know your supplier is the process of identifying, verifying and understanding a supplier before or during a commercial relationship.

Land conversion is the change of land from one use, ecosystem or vegetation type to another, such as from forest or grassland to agriculture or infrastructure.

Land grabbing is the acquisition or control of land in ways that may undermine legitimate tenure rights, community consent, livelihoods or human rights.

Land tenure is the way rights to own, use, occupy, access or control land are recognised, held and governed.

Legality verification is the process of checking whether a product, activity, permit or transaction complies with applicable laws in the relevant jurisdiction.

Living conditions standards are expectations for accommodation, sanitation, safety, privacy, space and welfare where workers or communities are housed or supported.

The net annual income a household in a particular place needs from all sources to afford a decent standard of living for all its members.

The wage level necessary to afford a decent standard of living for workers and their families, earned during normal working hours and calculated for a particular country or place.

Lost time injury frequency rate is a safety metric measuring lost-time injuries relative to hours worked over a defined period.

A chain-of-custody model in which materials with and without specified characteristics may be mixed while the quantities and associated claims are controlled through defined accounting rules, boundaries and...

A migrant worker is a person who moves within or across borders for employment or work-related opportunity.

Modern slavery is an umbrella term for severe exploitation such as forced labour, human trafficking, slavery-like practices and servitude.

A near miss is an unplanned event that did not cause injury, illness or damage but had the potential to do so.

Non-discrimination is the principle that people should not be treated unfairly because of protected or irrelevant characteristics.

The systematic prevention of work-related injury and ill health through hazard identification, risk control, worker participation and continual improvement.

An operational-level grievance mechanism is a process at company or site level for receiving, addressing and resolving concerns from affected people.

Passport retention is the holding of a worker's identity or travel documents by an employer, recruiter or intermediary, which may restrict freedom of movement.

Payment practices are the contractual terms, actual timing, controls and conduct governing how an organisation pays suppliers and other business partners.

Polygon mapping is the digital representation of a land area as a mapped boundary rather than a single point location.

A price premium is an additional amount paid above a baseline price, often used to support better production practices, quality attributes or sustainability outcomes.

Autonomous, membership-based organisations formed by producers to advance shared economic, social, service and representative interests.

Provenance is information about the origin, history, custody or movement of a product, material or data item.

Psychosocial risk is the risk of harm to mental health or wellbeing arising from work design, organisation, relationships, demands or environment.

Recruitment fees are costs charged to workers or employers for recruitment services, placement or related employment access.

Remediation is the process of addressing, correcting or making good an adverse impact after it has occurred.