Ulula in Audits & Certification Assessments

Make audits smarter with remote and scalable assessments

Audits & Certifications

Onsite social audits have been the predominant mechanism for assessing working conditions in supply chains. Traditional audits can only offer a snapshot of working conditions at best, though, and human interference can undermine the credibility and integrity of the results. The approach limits workers’ ability to provide feedback on their working conditions and to identify risks and abuses across the supply chain.

Audits & Certifications

How Ulula Supports Organizations with Auditing and Certification Assessments

Ulula worker engagement solutions help improve the quality and coverage of social insurance across supply chains — prior, during and after onsite visits — to make audits smarter. Ulula connects directly with workers and stakeholders in their own languages through anonymous surveys to inform the need and potential scope of an onsite visit — making it more effective and solution-oriented. The Ulula solution is scalable, allowing assessors to remotely deploy and cost-effectively gather insights across all facilities.

Risk Identification

Corrective Action

Standards & Certifications

COVID-19

Support at Each Stage of the Audit Process

Before

Workers can anonymously raise issues using Ulula’s grievance mechanism, further supporting auditors by raising early warning signals as to the types of risks present across various sites. The data can help prioritize onsite visits and inform necessary actions and remediation programs.

During

Honest insights from workers can validate results from audits and provide organizations and stakeholders with a day-to-day view of compliance, thus building understanding and trust over time.

After

Using the adaptable survey tool, organizations can follow-up with root cause analyses or evaluate corrective actions.

Identifying Risks More Effectively

Ulula’s remote assessments and pulse surveys work in coordination with audits. Assessments measure factors such as work conditions, social dialogue, harassment and discrimination, health and safety and child and forced labor.

Pulse surveys gather worker feedback, giving a glimpse into company growth and the overall compliance of operations.

Dashboard analytics immediately communicate potential concerns, allowing companies to immediately trigger an audit.

The power of Ulula lies in its ability to collect data more frequently than traditional audits and thus support continuous improvement.

Supporting Corrective Action and Continuous Improvement

Data collection with Ulula does not stop when a supplier implements a plan to correct labor abuses or environmental violations. The power of Ulula lies in its ability to collect data more frequently than traditional audits and thus support continuous improvement. That doesn’t mean data flies under the radar.

Ulula’s remote assessments compare results post-implementation with baseline data and verify conclusions with worker feedback.

Supporting Corrective Action and Continuous Improvement

Ulula’s remote assessments compare results post-implementation with baseline data and verify conclusions with worker feedback.

The global pandemic disrupted many industries and forced organizational leadership to accelerate digital technologies and remote solutions to maintain operations.

Supporting Certification and Standards

Supply chain level certifications relating to the environment and occupational health and safety lead to higher performance outcomes. Organizations don’t have to leave the Ulula platform to create a full certification program, from registration through continued advancement.

Ulula enables verification through remote assessments, which can help reduce the cost of compliance and increase the reach of certification.

Ulula can also engage with larger groups of farmers, artisans and smallholders to increase access to mainstream markets and improve livelihoods, while offering deeper insights into social and labor impacts.

Person in hardhat and vest measuring collecting environmental data

The Impact of COVID-19 on Traditional Audits and Assessments

The global pandemic disrupted many industries and forced organizational leadership to accelerate digital technologies and remote solutions to maintain operations. The audit and certification assessment sector is no exception. Travel restrictions impede and delay scheduled onsite visits at a time when additional oversight is necessary to ensure COVID-19 containment measures are properly implemented.

With Ulula, you can:

Custom-design surveys to align with an assessment’s key performance indicators, and thus ensure consistency with onsite visit criteria.

Remotely deploy surveys to enable facility managers and workers to complete them in their own language right on their mobile device. Surveys can be regularly deployed to ensure assessors have real-time insight into factory condition

Supplement assessment data, the grievance mechanism can expose ad hoc worker concerns and observed issues.

Distribute digital resources and training materials to ensure managers and workers have the most up to date health and safety information.

Although the pandemic has spurred increased adoption of digital solutions, the benefits extend beyond the crisis. Remote assessments are not only more scalable than traditional assessments, but they also provide more accurate data and analysis more frequently, thus allowing assessors to strategically invest in resources and onsite visits to areas that present the greatest risk. Suppliers can even move beyond compliance with Ulula’s two-way engagement and notification functionalities, thus improving relationships with workers and effectively reducing turnover, decreasing risk and improving worker wellbeing and productivity.