ICSI SAS – 02 – Social Audit Standard on promoting health care including mental healthcare, sanitation and making available safe drinking water
Applicability and Scope
This Social Audit Standard (‘the Standard’) is applicable to the Social Auditor as defined under sub-Regulation (f) of Regulation 292A of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018 conducting the Social Audit of the Social Enterprise as defined under sub-Regulation (h) of Regulation 292A of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018. This Standard deals with procedures, responsibilities and duties of the Auditor with respect to the Social Audit being conducted by him/ her of the Social Enterprises engaged in the activities prescribed under sub-regulation 2(a)(ii) of Regulation 292E of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018.
Objective
ICSI Social Audit Standard – 02 (ICSI SAS-02) aims to aid the Social Auditors with necessary instructions or guidelines for the effective Social Audit of Social Enterprises engaged in the field of “promoting health care including mental healthcare, sanitation and making available safe drinking water”. Social Auditor shall follow the minimum criteria as specified in this proposed Social Audit Standard issued by the ICSI.
Effective Date
This Social Audit Standard will be in force with effect from –/–/20–.
Social Audit Process and Documentation
Social Auditor shall conduct the Social Audit in accordance with the procedures/ mandates established and notified by the ICSI from time to time. Social Auditors shall perform their functions that provide sufficient and adequate evidence to support Social Audit. Social Auditor can acquire evidence for the effectiveness of Social Audit through inspection, observation, inquiry, consultation, interview, questionnaire, analytical procedures and/or other research techniques or any other acceptable methods as he/she deems fit. The procedures to be followed are as under:
I. Define Social Audit objectives and planning Social Audit;
II. Intimation to the Management of the Social Enterprise about the Audit Plan;
III. Identification of Stakeholders and Consultation;
IV. Visit to/inspection of the area where project/activity was implemented;
V. Collection of data, Analysis and Assessment;
VI. Reporting.
I. Define Social Audit objectives and planning Social Audit
The Social Auditor shall define the object and scope of the Social Audit prior to conducting Social Audit. It is always better to have a proper plan prior to Social Audit and it includes nature, timing and extent of the procedures and standards to be followed while conducting Social Audit. The Social Auditor should also analyse the report, recommendations of the previous Social Audit, if any, and review the corrective actions taken by the Social Enterprise with respect to the recommendations suggested in the previous Social Audit Report. This is the first stage of Social Audit process.
II. Intimation to the Management of the Social Enterprise about the Audit Plan
It is expected that the Social Auditor should intimate the audit plan to the Management of the Social Enterprise so that they can have the necessary documents and materials ready and available for the Auditor.
III. Identification of Stakeholders and Consultation
The key stakeholders who can be involved in the Social Audit process include project beneficiaries, their family members, officials of the local bodies, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), media, hospitals and their management personnel, medical practitioners, supervising staff from the social enterprise, funding body etc. The consultation must be done with the stakeholders to extract accurate and needed information.
IV. Visit to / inspection of the area where project / activity was implemented
The Social Auditor must make it a point to visit / inspect the location and this will also give him / her better opportunities both for collection of data and consultation with the stakeholders.
V. Collection of data, analysis and assessment
This activity involves identifying key issues that need to be cross checked in the Social Audit as well as how information and data pertaining to the activity undertaken by the Social Enterprise will be collected. Moreover, in Social Audit process, two types of data are crucial. Primary data collected from stakeholders and community members, followed by Secondary data collected from various other sources. Gathering secondary information is very important in the process of Social Audit. Secondary data are inevitable for making Social Audit Reports. Information required for preparing Social Audit reports may not be available in single point but may be in different records in different forms.
Social Auditor shall collect the relevant information through any of the following methods:
- Documents and records
- Previous Social Audit Report, if any
- Questionnaires and surveys
- Interviews
- Observations
- Published data from authorized sources
Evaluation should be based on certain criteria and suggestive list of such criteria is provided hereinafter. However, the list is inclusive and not exhaustive and the Social Auditor must exercise his own discretion and judgement on case to case basis. Also, the feedback from stakeholders should be considered while preparing the Social Audit Report.
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Sl. |
Particulars |
| A. Promotion of health care | |
| 1 | Population of the target area and number of primary health centres and other healthcare institutions situated in the area with capacity of the institutions (Status – current & prior to the review period). |
| 2 | Number of healthcare institutions established by the Social Enterprise during the review period including the capacity and facilities provided. |
| 3 | institutions. |
| 4 | Number of workshops/ awareness programmes/ health care camps, vaccination drive conducted for the betterment of health care and number of participants. |
| 5 | Details of Committee formed for the effective implementation of policies for promotion of health care (includes constitution, members, meetings held etc). |
| 6 | Initiatives taken for encouraging people especially those Below Poverty Line (BPL) to be a part of any recognised health insurance (recognized) policy and number of people newly taken insurance. |
| 7 | Comparison of status of living with respect to quality of air, water, hygiene of the target section prior to and at the end of the reviewing period. |
| 8 | Initiatives for developing health literacy in the target section. |
| 9 | Details of nutrition supplementation programme conducted and number of people attended. |
| 10 | Initiatives taken for or financial assistance given for the development of novel drugs and therapies for the treatment of physical health conditions. |
| 11 | Details of advanced technological usage for improving healthcare of target section and its effective use. |
| 12 | Initiatives taken for prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol. |
| 13 | Awareness programmes conducted for and/or assistance given for minimising/controlling biological risk factors, behavioural risk factors and environmental risk factors regarding physical health of people. |
| 14 | Periodical medical check-up sessions conducted. |
| 15 | Initiatives taken to ensure access to essential quality health care services, affordable medicines and vaccines. |
| 16 | Initiatives taken to reduce maternal mortality rate, neonatal mortality rate and mortality rate of children below the age of five. |
| 17 | Initiatives taken to improve access to sexual and reproductive health care centres/ services including information and education of family planning. |
| 18 | Initiatives taken for addressing the hardships faced in accessing medical facilities by patients with special needs and differently able persons. |
| 19 | Helpline numbers / facilities introduced and their effectiveness. |
| 20 | Doctor / medical professional to patient ratio before and after the
implementation of the project / activity. |
| B. Promotion of mental health care | |
| 1 | Initiatives taken for improving social relationships/ community development. |
| 2 | Details of counselling sessions/ mental health promotion sessions conducted and number of participants. |
| 3 | Initiatives taken for increasing quality of mental healthcare specialists and training to non-specialists to deliver mental health care services at community level. |
| 4 | Initiatives taken or financial assistance given for the development of novel drugs and therapies for the treatment of mental health conditions. |
| 5 | Details of advanced technological usage for improving mental healthcare of target section. |
| 6 | Details of financial assistance given for establishing mental health care institutions including rehabilitation centres. |
| 7 | Initiatives for securing equity and opportunity for marginalised group. |
| 8 | Initiatives for promoting social support to old age population. |
| 9 | Details of stress prevention programmes conducted at work places. |
| 10 | Violence prevention programmes at community level. |
| 11 | Details of online psychosocial support programmes conducted using
advanced technologies and effective follow-up. |
| 12 | Programmes organized including financial assistance for survivors of torture and trauma. |
| C. Promoting sanitation | |
| 1 | Initiatives taken for universal access to safe toilets and elimination of open defecation. |
| 2 | Initiatives taken including financial assistance given for the improvement of safe sanitation in slum areas. |
| 3 | Awareness programmes conducted for the safe sanitation at various levels including school level, college level, work place, local community, etc. |
| 4 | Details of progressive improvements towards safe sanitation system. |
| 5 | Assistance provided/ initiatives taken for the betterment of health of workers engaged in the field of sanitation. |
| 6 | Initiatives taken for coordinating safe sanitation with water and hygiene measures. |
| 7 | Initiatives taken to manage waste/excreta of domestic animals. |
| 8 | Initiatives taken and financial assistance given for Installation / Maintenance of portable toilets in the target area. |
| 9 | Details of implementation of sustainable waste management system including financial assistance provided. |
| 10 | Financial assistance provided for waste water treatment and innovation of new technologies for the purpose. |
| 11 | Assistance given to households/others for discharging treated water. |
| 12 | Initiatives taken and financial assistance given for constructing private toilets and latrines. |
| 13 | Details of local level health based risk assessment conducted. |
| 14 | Financial assistance given for the research and development of improving existing sanitation system or inventing new safe sanitation system. |
| 15 | Initiatives taken to strengthen the participation of local communities in improving sanitation management. |
| 16 | Initiatives taken to achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene and eradicate open defection, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls. |
| 17 | Initiatives taken to build toilet facilities in schools and other public areas. |
| 18 | Initiatives taken to educate people to build toilets at their homes. |
| D. Making available safe drinking water | |
| 1 | Status of free and equitable access to drinking water (status prior to and at the end of the reporting period). |
| 2 | Initiatives taken for rainwater harvesting and recharging underground
aquifers. |
| 3 | Details of provision of home water treatment facilities through the use of filters, solar disinfection or any other scientific mode to make drinking water safe. |
| 4 | Status of continuous supply of water (having minimum required level of PH) prior to the reviewing period and at the end of the period. |
| 5 | Initiatives taken for ensuring continuous supply of water for each individual satisfying minimum quality criteria. |
| 6 | Financial assistance given for keeping and maintaining the water resources safe and useful. |
| 7 | Initiatives taken to protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forest, wetland, rivers, aquifers and lakes. |
| 8 | Details of direct and indirect public participation in the implementation of scheme of making available safe drinking water to all. |
| 9 | Initiatives taken to promote low-cost solutions such as chlorine tablets, solar sterilization, ceramic filters or other such solutions to improve water quality. |
| 10 | Awareness programmes or sessions conducted for various sections of people in the society (at community level, school level, college level, at work place, etc.) for conservation of drinking water. |
| 11 | Initiatives taken for making available piped drinking water at each house. |
| 12 | Ratio of Generation to Consumption of safe drinking water. |
VI. Reporting
The Social Audit Report shall include information about the objective set out at the beginning of the Social Audit, methodologies adopted, observations, findings and recommendations if any. The Social Auditor shall also identify the challenges faced in implementation of the projects / activities and suggest areas for improvement based on observation, interview and feedback received from stakeholders. The Social Auditor shall also list out the limitations of the audit process which might include non-availability of proper response from stakeholders, lack of awareness about sanitation, lack of training, resistance to change etc and point out the extent to which such limitations impact the Audit Report. The Report of Social Audit shall be as per the format notified by the ICSI from time to time.
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