Quick Questions with Åsa Portnoff Sundström - Head of Sustainability at Clas Ohlson

Clas Ohlson was one of QuizRR's very first partners, realising the business case of anchoring workers’ rights in their growing China supply chain. We congratulate Åsa Portnoff Sundström and her team on their win in "Best New Programme Implemented" at this week's Sedex Awards 2018 in London.

When, how and why did you start working with QuizRR?
Clas Ohlson was the first company to join QuizRR in 2014 and we have been actively involved and supported during the development and piloting of the tool. We strongly believe that going beyond audit and building strong inclusive relationship with strategic suppliers will better position us for long-term profitability and contribute to positive change and improved conditions in the supply chains.

How many of your suppliers are using the QuizRR training tools and what impact do you see?
Up to date, Clas Ohlson suppliers have conducted over 9000 training sessions in 26 participating factories. Over 4000 workers have been trained in their rights and responsibilities in China in areas such as workplace polices, fire and building safety, health and safety and workplace dialogue. The training has resulted in increased awareness regarding workers’ rights within our supply chain, improved dialogue with our suppliers and transparent data making it possible to measure training result overtime.

What is coming up next?
We are now in the process developing phase two of the implementation of QuizRR in our supply chain. The plan is to use the worker engagement module that is available in QuizRR as the basis for engaging with worker representatives at factories, involve them in the dialogue and get their buy in and then let them lead the implementation of the right and responsibilities training at the factories. We believe that a strong ownership at the factory level is very important and that the worker representatives could be the right contact point. At the same time, we will have the possibility to engage and support workers to better understand and develop within their role as workers representatives. We are very excited kick-off the first pilots in the second phase in the near future.

Clas Ohlson press release, March 15, 2018
https://about.clasohlson.com/sv/media-och-press/pressmeddelanden/2018/clas-ohlson-vinner-internationellt-pris-for-utbildningsinsatser-i-leverantorsledet/

About Sedex
Sedex is a membership organisation and a collaborative platform for sharing responsible sourcing data on supply chains, e.g. on standards and certifications around labour rights, health & safety, the environment and business ethics. Learn more at www.sedexglobal.com

About QuizRR
QuizRR develops innovative training solutions to advance corporate responsibility and capacity building in global supply chains. The QuizRR training solutions are based on internationally recognized guidelines on sustainable development and corporate responsibility, enabling businesses to step up from mere compliance to become role models and drivers of change. Learn more at www.quizrr.se