International whistleblowing management system published

Posted to News on Tuesday, August 24, 2021 Share:

IN ITS designated role as the UK’s national standards body, the British Standards Institution (BSI) has published new guidance for an effective whistleblowing management system based on the principles of trust, impartiality and protection.

BS ISO 37002:2021 Whistleblowing Management Systems – Guidelines provides guidance to organisations for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving a whistleblowing management system.

The guidance is intended to:

*encourage and facilitate the reporting of wrongdoing

*support and protect whistleblowers and other interested parties involved

*ensure reports of wrongdoing are dealt with in a proper and timely manner

*improve organisational culture and governance

*reduce the risks of wrongdoing

David Fatscher, head of environment, social and governance standards at the BSI, said: “Studies show that a large proportion of wrongdoing comes to the attention of the affected organisation through reports from someone within or close to the organisation. This has led organisations to introduce or improve internal whistleblowing policies and processes.”

Fatscher added: “We’re proud to have led the development of the first whistleblowing management system that can help organisations of all sizes to establish and maintain a robust process. This is an important people-centric standard that can build organisational trust by encouraging a culture of openness, transparency, integrity and accountability.”

BS ISO 37002:2021 has been developed by an international committee that is made-up of governance experts. The committee is chaired by Howard Shaw, with Dr Axel Kravatzky serving as vice-chair. Nathan Taylor is the ISO technical programme manager and Nicola Perou the ISO editorial programme manager.

*Organisations can download BS ISO 37002:2021 from the BSI shop