Policy Statement on the Respect for Human Rights at DSW21
As a municipal provider of essential public services, DSW21 assumes responsibility for respecting human rights towards its employees and society. This responsibility extends both to our own operations and to our suppliers along our value chain. In doing so, we are guided by the following international standards:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations (UN)
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP)
Labour and social standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO)
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Principles of the UN Global Compact
These principles are also reflected in our internal policies and regulations, which are supplemented by internal training measures in the relevant specialist departments. Our Code of Conduct serves as the guiding framework for responsible and ethical behaviour by our employees. The protection of our employees from any form of discrimination is a top priority for us.
Our suppliers are obliged to comply with human rights through our Supplier Code of Conduct. The Supplier Code of Conduct defines minimum requirements for social, environmental and economic standards that we expect our suppliers to meet. It authorises us to review compliance with these standards at supplier level.
In addition, we conduct risk analyses annually and on an ad hoc basis in order to identify human rights-related risks within our own operations and among our suppliers. We also make use of IT-based solutions for this purpose. Identified risks are prioritised and appropriate countermeasures are implemented.
Complaints or suspected cases relating to potential human rights violations can be reported to the contact persons listed on our website and intranet. Our procedural guideline, which provides further information on the complaint procedure, is also available there. Our contact persons accept reports from external and internal whistleblowers, including reports submitted anonymously.
We are aware that fulfilling human rights due diligence obligations is an ongoing process. We will therefore regularly review this policy statement, our Code of Conduct, our Supplier Code of Conduct and our other human rights-related measures for relevance and effectiveness, and adjust them as necessary.
DORTMUNDER STADTWERKE AG
The Executive Board
Status: November 2023