How a product is made is no longer just about quality and safety. Buyers, regulators, and consumers increasingly want to know that the people who made it were treated fairly, that human rights were respected, and that the business behind it operates ethically. PAS 24000:2022 gives organisations a structured way to manage and prove that.
This page explains what PAS 24000:2022 is, how TNV Inspection Division uses it as a reference standard for inspection, and how we inspect a facility or supplier against it. TNV is a UAF accredited inspection body operating under ISO/IEC 17020:2012, and checking operations against defined standards is the work we do.
What Is PAS 24000:2022?
PAS 24000:2022 is a Publicly Available Specification, published by BSI, for a Social Management System, or SMS. It sets out requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and improving the way an organisation manages its social responsibilities.
It is built on familiar ground: risk-based thinking, the process approach, and the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. It specifies minimum requirements for a social management system together with specific criteria for social performance, and it is written to be suitable for auditing and certification. It also supports the Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative, and the FSSC 24000 scheme is the certification programme built on it.
What Does PAS 24000 Cover?
The specification addresses how an organisation manages its social and ethical responsibilities across the operation. The main areas include:
- Human rights — respecting and protecting the rights of workers and affected people.
- Fair labour practices — wages, hours, contracts, and freedom from forced or child labour.
- Working conditions — health, safety, and a decent working environment.
- Ethical business conduct — integrity, anti-corruption, and fair dealing.
- Management system controls — policy, roles, risk assessment, objectives, monitoring, and continual improvement under the PDCA cycle.
- Social performance criteria — defined measures the operation can be audited against.
Together these turn social responsibility from a statement of intent into something a facility can be inspected against.
How TNV Uses PAS 24000 as the Inspection Reference Standard
Every inspection needs a benchmark to measure against. For social performance, PAS 24000 is that benchmark. As a UAF accredited inspection body under ISO/IEC 17020, we do not judge an operation on impressions or a generic checklist. We take the requirements and social performance criteria of PAS 24000 as the defined criteria and check the operation against them, point by point.
That is what an inspection body means by a reference standard. The specification says what a socially responsible operation looks like. Our job is to verify, independently and on the evidence, whether your facility or supplier matches it, and to record exactly where it does and where it falls short. The outcome is a clear, factual picture of social performance that you, your buyers, or your supply chain partners can rely on.
How We Inspect a Facility Against PAS 24000
Our inspection follows the structure of the specification, so nothing important is left out. In practice, a PAS 24000 inspection by TNV covers the following.
- Document and system review. We examine policies, procedures, records, and the social management system itself, and check that what is written down meets the specification.
- Human rights and labour practices. We check evidence on wages, working hours, contracts, age verification, and freedom from forced labour.
- Working conditions. We inspect health, safety, and welfare arrangements on site.
- Worker interviews. We speak with workers, confidentially where appropriate, to verify that records match reality.
- Ethical conduct and management controls. We review how the organisation manages risk, sets objectives, handles grievances, and drives improvement.
- Records and traceability. We confirm that the documentation is complete, consistent, and reliable.
Our inspectors work through these using document and record checks, site observation, interviews, and sampling where it is needed. We record observations with evidence and keep you informed of progress and any early findings.
The deliverable is a detailed inspection report. It sets out what was checked, what conforms to PAS 24000, any non-conformities or gaps against the specification, and practical recommendations to close them, written so a non-specialist can act on it and a buyer can trust it.
Our UAF Accreditation Explained
This is what separates a real inspection body from a general service provider, so it is worth a moment.
TNV Inspection Division is accredited by the United Accreditation Foundation (UAF) for inspection, under ISO/IEC 17020:2012 – Conformity assessment – Requirements for bodies providing various types of inspection. We hold that accreditation now, and we keep it through regular surveillance and witnessed inspections.
There are two reasons this matters to you. UAF is a signatory of the IAF MLA and the APAC MRA, the international recognition arrangements that let a report carry weight outside the country it was written in. And our accreditation covers work across most of Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. So “internationally recognised” is something we can show you, not just say.
What Our Accreditation Means for You
In practice, it gives you a few things. Your reports travel, because UAF and those recognition arrangements mean our results are accepted across borders, which counts whenever you sell or source in more than one market. You get real independence, because ISO/IEC 17020 keeps us impartial and clear of any tie to the people we inspect, so what we report is simply what we found. And you always know the boundaries of the job: the field we inspect, the point at which we inspect, the methods we use, and the standard we measure against are all set out before we start.
Why Does PAS 24000 Matter for Your Business?
Social responsibility has moved from a nice-to-have to a buying condition. Major retailers and brands now expect their suppliers to demonstrate fair labour and ethical conduct, and many tie it to formal schemes. PAS 24000 gives a recognised structure for that, and because it is built to be audited, it lets an organisation prove its social performance rather than just describe it.
For a supplier, an independent inspection against PAS 24000 can be the difference between winning a contract and losing one. For a buyer, it is reassurance that the supply chain behind a product holds up to scrutiny. And in a climate where a single labour scandal can damage a brand overnight, that assurance has real value.
Differences Between PAS 24000 and Other Related Standards
Social and ethical standards overlap, so it helps to place PAS 24000:
- PAS 24000 is a social management system specification, auditable and certifiable, and the basis of the FSSC 24000 scheme.
- SA8000 is a long-established social accountability standard for decent work; PAS 24000 takes a management-system approach aligned with supply-chain initiatives.
- ISO 26000 is guidance on social responsibility, not a certifiable specification. PAS 24000 is built to be audited.
- ISO 45001 covers occupational health and safety specifically, where PAS 24000 takes in the wider social picture.
So PAS 24000 is the right reference when the question is how well an organisation manages its social responsibilities as a system.
Who Should Use PAS 24000?
The specification is built for:
- Manufacturers and suppliers who need to demonstrate fair labour and ethical conduct.
- Brands and retailers managing social compliance across their supply chains.
- Exporters who must meet the social expectations of international buyers.
- Procurement and sustainability teams responsible for supply-chain social performance.
How to Arrange a PAS 24000 Inspection with TNV
Getting started is straightforward, and the process follows our ISO/IEC 17020 framework.
- Share your requirement. Reach us by website, email, phone, or WhatsApp and tell us about the facility and what you need inspected. We review the scope against PAS 24000 and send a clear proposal covering method, timeline, and cost. Once you approve it, we sign a short agreement.
- We plan the inspection. We review the relevant documents and records, build the inspection plan around the specification, and assign inspectors with the right experience.
- We inspect on site. We carry out the inspection described above, checking the operation against PAS 24000 and recording findings with evidence.
- We report. You receive the detailed inspection report, reviewed internally for accuracy and delivered within the agreed timeframe.
- We follow up. We answer questions, help you act on the findings, and run follow-up checks where useful. Where formal FSSC 24000 certification is the goal, we route it to the correct scope within the TNV group.
Why Choose TNV Inspection Division?
TNV Inspection Division is an independent, UAF accredited inspection body working under ISO/IEC 17020:2012. Independence and impartiality are built into how we operate, which is exactly what a credible social inspection needs. You get an outside party with recognised accreditation, qualified inspectors, and reports your buyers and supply-chain partners can rely on.
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)
Talk to TNV Inspection Division
Need an independent, accredited partner to inspect social performance against PAS 24000? Contact TNV Inspection Division for a clear scope and a free quote.