Stakeholders in the railway sector need to improve their involvement in Environmental Social Governance (ESG) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by actively managing their supply chain and suppliers, especially in areas such as quality, environment, (work) safety, and human rights. The upcoming Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, scheduled for entry into force in 2026, will reinforce these efforts.
For this reason, UIC is launching a project to streamline efforts and save substantial resources in the rail sector, with a focus beyond mere costs. This is also to aid the industry’s future development towards a modal shift, contributing to the EU green deal.
If you are interested in contributing to this project, please apply at https://uic.org/events/joint-audit-framework.
Project structure & deliverables
The project is organised around 5 activities:
Develop a benchmark with other existing best practices
Other industries have already developed joint audit programmes. The deliverables will research these best practices as a basis for the development of a sector specific framework.
Develop a framework of standards
This deliverable will ensure compatibility between different management systems, so that all legal requirements in the different countries are taken into account. Without this, it will be difficult to find common ground.
Develop a collective audit programme for suppliers where RUs accept audit results for certain suppliers from partners or other members
By aligning internal programmes and ensuring that they comply with internal policies and national legislation, where applicable, mutual understanding and agreement on a collective programme will be agreed upon for the results to be accepted.
Develop (a) tool(s) to leverage results from individual audit efforts
Proper data management is required to ensure that the system functions at maximum efficiency, and will also be necessary for audit recording and documentation.
If these tools are not developed, it is highly likely that the authorities will not accept these practices as an acceptable means of compliance.
Analyse potential business models and develop structures that enable the project results to be inserted into permanent practice
This deliverable will focus on the development of sustainable business models for implementation into daily operations after the project’s completion.
More information about the project can be found at https://uic.org/projects/article/audit4all.
