What is the code of conduct for the inspection of The Home Depot factory?

The Home Depot and its subsidiaries, departments and subsidiaries are committed to operating in a responsible manner. Because the company has set up overseas branches and cooperated with suppliers all over the world to meet the needs of customers, it is very important to safeguard human rights and provide a safe working environment in the workplace. The Home Depot expects all its suppliers to abide by local laws and regulations in the process of producing and distributing products or providing services to The Home Depot. We encourage all suppliers to operate above the requirements of The Home Depot and make continuous improvement. The Home Depot requires all suppliers to comply with the above regulations, and will conduct annual social and environmental responsibility (SER) audits of factories producing authorized brands or patented products. For suppliers producing other products, The Home Depot will evaluate the SER or CSR procedures of the factory to ensure compliance with the following regulations of The Home Depot. If the factory has not established a SER plan or a corporate social responsibility plan, The Home Depot will cooperate with suppliers to help them establish an internal supervision mechanism to ensure compliance with the requirements of this standard. The Home Depot reserves the right to audit any supplier who produces and distributes products or provides services for us. The Home Depot hopes that the supplier/factory will notify The Home Depot in writing when it changes its business address. In addition, the manufacturer shall not transfer the products to other places for production without the consent of the Quality Assurance Department. This guide briefly introduces the minimum requirements that suppliers must comply with when doing business with The Home Depot. These requirements are part of all new or renewed commercial contracts signed by The Home Depot. Suppliers who have the right to check the compliance requirements of social and environmental responsibilities must allow the representatives of The Home Depot Company to audit the production units listed in the public information table of the factory, including entering the factory, interviewing workers and all other documents related to the audit. Times require suppliers not to use child labor. The Home Depot requires all suppliers to hire workers who have reached the local minimum working age, and under no circumstances can they use workers under the age of 14.

If the factory offers an apprenticeship program, it must abide by all relevant local laws and regulations. Forced labor and employment must be voluntary. Forced labor, contract labor or debt labor shall not be used to produce the products of The Home Depot or any of its subsidiaries. Cheating suppliers must ensure that all records, work cards and other documents of the factory correctly reflect the actual production situation.

The supplier must ensure that all products sold to The Home Depot do not violate the requirements of patent law, trademark law or copyright law. If requested by The Home Depot, the supplier shall provide all necessary certificates. Wage and working hours suppliers must establish an effective mechanism to verify and accurately record employees' wages, deductions and working hours.

Suppliers must comply with all legal requirements of the host country, including wages for normal working hours, overtime, maximum allowable working hours, piece-rate wages and other laws and regulations related to employee benefits. Non-discrimination in hiring workers should be based on personal ability rather than personal characteristics. This includes but is not limited to employment, salary, welfare, promotion, punishment or dismissal.

The Home Depot requires its suppliers to respect workers and safeguard their dignity. Suppliers must ensure that no forms of corporal punishment are used in the workplace. Environment, Health and Safety The Home Depot requires suppliers to comply with the requirements of relevant local laws and regulations, and provide employees with a safe and healthy working environment to avoid accidents and accidents at work.

If the employer provides staff quarters, it must ensure a safe and healthy accommodation environment and comply with all relevant local laws and regulations.

Encourage suppliers to provide personal protective equipment for workers exposed to dangerous working conditions.

Encourage suppliers to abide by local/national laws and regulations when storing, managing and disposing of garbage. Emergency exits in the emergency plan factory and dormitory area must be kept clear. Freedom of speech and association production units must respect workers' right to freely join legal organizations and shall not interfere with workers' exercise of this right. Auditor Depot authorizes suppliers, brand or patented product manufacturers to be audited annually. In order to ensure that suppliers can continuously meet SER requirements, The Home Depot will audit the factory without prior notice. The audit fee shall be borne by the supplier. All SER audits are based on the national/local laws or standards of The Home Depot (without local laws). Corrective measures If the supplier is found to have discrepancies during the audit, the supplier must take appropriate improvement measures to correct the discrepancies within the time required by The Home Depot to avoid recurrence. The environment requires The Home Depot to seek cooperation with suppliers who have the same excellent environment with us.

Require suppliers to comply with the environmental laws of their countries/regions.

Suppliers should purchase wood and wood products that meet the forest system certification when feasible, and promote the effective and responsible use of wood and wood products. Supply chain security The Home Depot attaches great importance to supply chain security. Due to the increasingly rampant global terrorism, we have joined the C-TPAT program of the US Customs and taken other measures to strengthen the existing internal security measures. The Home Depot also requires suppliers to meet minimum safety standards. The supplier shall establish relevant processes and procedures to ensure that unauthorized goods or personnel are not allowed to enter the containers of The Home Depot and its subsidiaries. Therefore, the supplier shall establish written safety procedures for at least the following CBP standards. The Home Depot reserves the right to evaluate the supplier's safety plan and the implementation of its production plant/warehouse. If the supplier's production unit fails to take adequate safety measures, it will endanger the relationship with The Home Depot. The following standards specify the minimum requirements that suppliers must comply with before doing business with The Home Depot. However, The Home Depot is aware of the differences in the business environment of suppliers in different countries/regions, and we expect suppliers to operate beyond this minimum standard. The Home Depot will handle it differently according to the actual situation. The Home Depot encourages all suppliers to operate above this minimum standard and make continuous improvement. Container security suppliers must establish container loading procedures to prevent unauthorized goods or personnel from entering containers.

All fully loaded containers shipped to the United States must be sealed with high-security seals (in line with PAS ISO 1777 12 standards).

When the container is in the supplier's production unit, it must be stored in a safe area to avoid unauthorized entry and/or operation. The materials used in the physical safety building of the factory/warehouse must be able to resist illegal entry.

Physical safety includes: adequate locking devices, adequate lighting and perimeter safety. The factory/warehouse access control supplier shall establish safety procedures to prevent unauthorized personnel from entering all loading and unloading platforms and areas.

Supplier access control includes:

A system for effectively identifying employees, visitors and suppliers.

There must be procedures for identifying, questioning and reporting unauthorized personnel. The safety of factory/warehouse personnel is within the scope permitted by local laws, and personnel selection is carried out during the recruitment process, including background check and employee interview. Factory/warehouse safety training and awareness suppliers must have or establish a safety awareness plan, which mainly trains employees' risk awareness and supply chain safety issues. All employees of the supplier must receive such training. All automated systems of information security providers should only be accessed through separate accounts, and passwords must be changed periodically.

Suppliers must formulate information security policies and provide relevant training to all employees. In the process of transporting third-party goods to The Home Depot, if the supplier can't control the production of a certain link or the transportation of products, the supplier agrees to ensure that its suppliers and transporters implement the proposal through reasonable commercial pressure. On-site evaluation In order to ensure the correct implementation and compliance of the minimum standards of this specification, The Home Depot reserves the right to make surprise inspection of the factory, and the relevant expenses shall be borne by the supplier. Corrective measures If the factory used by the supplier to produce products for The Home Depot or its subsidiaries is found to be in violation of the requirements of this standard, The Home Depot reserves the right to take appropriate corrective measures. The Home Depot has the sole right to interpret and implement this standard. Annual notification The Home Depot requires suppliers who have passed C-TPAT certification to provide copies of C-TPAT certificates and SVI numbers. The supplier must also fill in a self-assessment questionnaire developed by The Home Depot Global Business Services and submit it for the record. The Home Depot's Requirements for Imported Goods from High-risk Countries The Home Depot uses a series of methods to monitor global security issues, and then divides different countries into high, medium and low risks.

For countries listed as high risk by The Home Depot, we reserve the right to choose a third-party security agency to contact suppliers directly.

The Home Depot will be responsible for all details, including the audit in the factory or port (including but not limited to providing the audit list to the security agent and arranging the date and time of the audit).

Copies of documents required by third parties to be audited by suppliers must be provided to The Home Depot for filing.

The supplier is responsible for ensuring that the relevant expenses are paid to the third-party audit institution in time (45-day payment period).

The Home Depot only recognizes the contract signed by the third party organization and the supplier, and the supplier shall provide a copy of the contract to the Global Business Service Manager of The Home Depot.

Any violation point that does not meet the safety standards will lead to the result of "audit failure".