Program policies and standards

Global citizenship

Environmental sustainability home

In 2002, HP was the first electronics company to publish a Supply Chain Social and Environmental Responsibility Policy to express our principles and commitment to responsible management of our supply chain.

Human Rights Policy

The concept of human rights holds that every individual has universal rights and status, regardless of legal jurisdiction. These include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law.

The United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights, established in 1948, provides the basis for human rights standards. Other sources include:

• Rights outlined in the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact
• The International Labour Organization Fundamental Conventions

HP’s Human Rights Policy and our Supply Chain Social and Environmental Responsibility (SER) Program reflect these international conventions, as do HP’s Global Citizenship Policy and HP's Policy on Human Rights and Labor. HP supports and respects the protection of international human rights within our sphere of influence and ensures that we are not complicit in human rights abuses. We expect our suppliers to observe the same policies.

HP belongs to the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR), a group of 14 global companies working to protect human rights. The chair is Mary Robinson, President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative. She is the former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. BLIHR strives to find “practical ways of applying the aspirations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights within a business context and to inspire other businesses to do likewise.” HP is committed to sharing our tools and experiences not only within the group but with all interested companies.

Strong and appropriate standards are essential to improving conditions in our industry's supply chain. In 2003, HP developed our industry’s first Social and Environmental Responsibility Supplier Code of Conduct. Recognizing that setting consistent industry standards sends a stronger message and enables our suppliers to implement those standards more efficiently, in 2004, we helped lead the development of the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct (EICC).

HP's Electronic Industry Code of Conduct (EICC) and General Specification for the Environment (GSE)

HP endorses the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct (EICC) in its entirety. The provision on Freedom of Association receives the most comment from stakeholder groups. Consequently, HP has supplemented the EICC with additional requirements specific to Freedom of Association (standard A7); we refer to this supplemented code as HP’s Electronic Industry Code of Conduct (HP’s EICC). All new and existing supplies must conform to HP’s EICC, and it is this standard that is referenced throughout our program documents.

HP suppliers must:

• Comply with all national and other applicable laws and regulations, and require their suppliers do the same (including labor agencies);
• adopt sound human rights practices and treat workers fairly with dignity and respect;
• provide a safe and healthy working environment for their workers;
• conduct business operations in a way that protects and sustains the environment;
• maintain management systems that measure, improve and communicate their company's labor, health & safety, environmental performance; and
• uphold the highest standards of ethics.

We ask that suppliers pursue a policy of continuous improvement in this area and be forthright in sharing information with us. In selecting and retaining qualified suppliers, HP will show preference to suppliers that meet or exceed our expectations.

The specific standards in HP's Electronic Industry Code of Conduct are:

In addition to the HP's EICC, HP suppliers must comply with our General Specification for the Environment, which contains HP's global product content requirements for restricting or prohibiting certain chemical compounds or materials in HP brand products or manufacturing processes.