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Q 50. How far should the tracking system go?
A system for tracking an enterprise’s responses to human rights impact may
simply review how it has responded to the potential impact identified, and
whether—or to what extent—these responses prevented the impact. But
wherever a significant human rights impact has occurred, the enterprise is
well advised also to undertake a root cause analysis or equivalent process to
identify how and why it occurred. This kind of process can be important if the
enterprise is to prevent or mitigate its continuation or recurrence. A root cause
analysis can help pinpoint what actions by which parts of the enterprise, or
by which other parties related to the enterprise, played a role in generating
the impact, and how. If the evidence is sufficiently clear, linking this kind of
analysis to staff incentives and disincentives—whether financial compensation,
promotion or other rewards—can play an important role in helping to embed
respect for human rights into the practices of the enterprise.
Q 51. What indicators should an enterprise use?
When identifying appropriate indicators, much will depend on: the combination
of human rights issues that the enterprise is typically having to address; whether
there are already well-established indicators for those issues; what data can
reasonably be obtained by the enterprise; how easy it is to solicit direct feedback
from affected stakeholders, and so forth. In labour rights, for example, audits
and indicators are relatively well established. In other areas such as health and
safety and environmental impact, technical standards also exist, including at
the international level, though there may be differing views on which standards
to use. With regard to community consultation and community resettlement,
there is also increasing guidance from international organizations and other
credible bodies on how to assess performance.
These types of guidance can help an enterprise to craft appropriate indicators
to track the effectiveness of its response to adverse human rights impact. For
large enterprises or those with significant human rights risks, it will be important
to include indicators that track how they are addressing the different impact
they may have on women and men and on individuals from any particularly
vulnerable groups.
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