Keeping a global human rights risk assessment up to date
Human Rights & Modern Slavery | read time: 3 min
A global manufacturer of industrial machinery operating in over 60 countries, has worked with GoodCorporation for close to 10 years to assess and manage human rights and anti-corruption risks across its operations.
Recognising that human rights risk can change as a business and its operating environment evolve, the company regularly updates its risk assessments and registers rather than treating risk assessment as a one-off exercise.
Our approach
GoodCorporation began by identifying changes to the company’s operations and approach to human rights since the previous assessment. Targeted desktop research considered developments in sectoral trends, regulatory expectations and peer practices, including emerging human rights risks.
A review of new and updated policies and procedures was combined with interviews with 18 managers across key functions including compliance, procurement, safety, supplier risk management, human resources, logistics, service, modernisation, as well as regional departments and local factory managers  . This provided insight into how human rights risks were understood and managed across the business and how this had changed since the previous assessment.
The assessment followed the principles of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, assessing the severity and likelihood of potential impacts on people. Severity was assessed according to the scope, scale and irremediability of potential impacts, with greater weight given to severity when determining which risks should be prioritised.
The findings from the research, document review and interviews were consolidated into an updated human rights risk register. This identified new and emerging risks, changes to existing risk ratings and areas where mitigation measures or further action needed to be strengthened.
A validation workshop with key representatives from across the business provided an opportunity to review the findings, discuss changes in risk and confirm the updated list of salient human rights issues before the risk register and recommended actions were finalised.
Client outcomes
The updated assessment gave the company a current and evidence-based view of how its human rights risk profile had evolved since the previous assessment. It provided:
- An updated human rights risk register, incorporating new and emerging risks and changes to existing risks
- Revised risk ratings, showing changes in likelihood, impact, inherent and net risk
- A prioritised risk matrix, highlighting areas requiring greater management attention
- Updated recommendations and actions to strengthen mitigation and further reduce identified risks
- A comparison of assessment results over time, enabling the company to track how its human rights risk profile has changed
The assessment provided the company with a clearer basis for prioritising action and maintaining its human rights risk management approach as the business continues to evolve.
Why it matters
Human rights risks do not remain static. Changes to a company’s strategy, operations, supply chain, geographic footprint or operating environment can introduce new risks or change the severity and likelihood of existing ones.
For large international businesses, regularly updating a human rights risk assessment provides an opportunity to test whether existing risk management remains appropriate, identify emerging issues and focus resources where action is most needed. It also provides a stronger evidence base for demonstrating how human rights risks are being identified, prioritised and managed over time. With businesses under increasing scrutiny for adverse human rights impacts resulting from their activities, a regularly updated risk assessment can help identify potential harm early, support action to prevent or mitigate adverse impacts and provide evidence of a structured approach to managing human rights risks in line with best practice.
How GoodCorporation can help
GoodCorporation helps organisations identify, assess and prioritise human rights risks across their operations and supply chains. Our assessments combine evidence from business processes, stakeholder perspectives and external research to provide a practical view of where risks have changed and where further action may be needed.
With extensive experience of conducting and updating human rights risk assessments for multinational organisations, GoodCorporation can help businesses build a risk management approach that evolves with their operations and the wider regulatory and business environment. To find out more about our human rights services, get in touch with our team.
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