Sustainability

Hööks sources products from suppliers in Europe and other parts of the world. We do this to offer our customers the best combination of quality, service and price. It is important that we fulfil our responsibilities, but also that our suppliers fulfil their responsibilities and comply with laws and regulations.

Our current work on CSR and sustainability covers the following:

Code of Conduct (including environmental issues) which has been applied and refined over the course of many years. This is agreed with our suppliers and covers, among other things:

• Compliance with laws and regulations
• Health/safety
• The work environment
• The environment
• Chemicals
• Minimum wages
• Working hours
• Prohibition against child slavery
• Freedom of association

Examples of additional measures:

• We pay visits to selected suppliers
• Supplier evaluations
• We belong to an international association of companies in the equestrian industry. Members receive assistance with inspecting and visiting suppliers.
• REACH document along with the POP Convention and the Biocides Directive – agreements with suppliers
• Ongoing random checks on chemicals in products by Swerea IVF
• Member of the Swedish Chemicals Group
• Member of the Fur Free Alliance
• Recycling and reclaiming of cardboard, plastic, metal and more via FTI (REPA)
• Internal training on CSR issues with external companies and consultants
• Our objective is to constantly improve in this area, to work with our suppliers to improve conditions in their workplaces, and through trade to contribute to better living standards in their countries.
• We also hope that our work will inspire competitors and colleagues in the equestrian industry to work on sustainability and CSR.

Work environment

Corporate social responsibility is a fundamental principle underpinning all Hööks's operations, and we impose strict ethical and moral requirements on our suppliers. We want to be sure that the products we sell are manufactured under conditions that respect people, the environment and human rights. We follow up on any irregularities with our suppliers in order to ascertain that they comply with our requirements. If there are any shortcomings, we do our best to rectify them and prevent them from happening again.

We strive to build lasting relationships and collaborate with our suppliers to ensure good working conditions.

 

Amfori – BSCI

To prioritise and focus on our social responsibility still further, Hööks is a member of the Amfori Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI). Amfori BSCI is a European monitoring and control system for business ethics and social responsibility with over 2,000 member companies, all of which use a common code of conduct. This code of conduct is based on the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Core Conventions of the ILO (International Labour Organisation). All members commit to implementing the code of conduct in their supply chains. As members of Amfori BSCI, we have access to various tools and platforms that enable us to help our suppliers make their workplaces more sustainable.

 

For more information on Amfori BSCI visit: www.amfori.org.

 

Monitoring

 

We monitor our suppliers through our work with Amfori BSCI and by regularly evaluating and visiting them.

In India we collaborate with a company that performs quality control and carries out audits and assessments of our existing and new suppliers. Every month several of our suppliers receive visits, and each order is inspected before leaving the factory.

We place strict demands on our suppliers, and if we learn that a supplier is not fully adhering to our requirements and is not prepared to take steps to modify their production, we may choose to sever the partnership. However, our objective is to constantly improve, to work with our suppliers to improve conditions in their workplaces, and to contribute to better living standards in our production countries through trade.