Consumer Health & Safety

Consumer health and safety encompasses the obligations of organisations to ensure that their products and services do not pose unreasonable risks to consumers' health or safety.

This includes product design and testing, quality control, labelling and warnings, recall procedures, and post-market surveillance. The UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection (2015 revision) establish the international framework. GRI 416 (Customer Health and Safety) requires disclosure of the percentage of significant product and service categories for which health and safety impacts are assessed, and incidents of non-compliance with regulations concerning health and safety impacts. SASB standards include industry-specific product safety metrics. Key practices include safety-by-design approaches, rigorous testing and quality assurance, clear and accurate labelling, effective recall and corrective action procedures, and transparent communication about product risks.

Further Reading

• ISO 26000 — Consumer issues guidance
• UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection — International consumer protection framework

Related Topics

• Consumer Issues
• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption
• Fair Operating Practices