Workforce Health Across the Value Chain 2025

You can enforce all the principles you want on the immediate contract. The challenge arises when the subcontractor subcontracts. If on their side, they involve other businesses in the process, it is not immediately known to the original contracting party unless they are informed or they do an investigation, and that requires time and money. We often think that supply chains are like a neat string of pearls. But, in fact, they’re more like a bowl of spaghetti – each strand is intertwined and overlapping with another. It’s hard to see where one starts or ends. Sandro Pettineo, Senior Programme Officer, Employers’ Activities, International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization Companies that pursue transparency for strategic insight will be better positioned to weather the shocks ahead.65 IKEA, for instance, has long maintained supplier standards through its IWAY code of conduct.66 In response to evolving expectations, the company has built a broader social performance framework that integrates labour standards, worker health safeguards and stakeholder engagement, underpinned by consistent reporting practices.67 This approach reflects both regulatory alignment and a strategic view that resilient workforces contribute to long- term value creation. However, the shifting economic landscape – particularly the resurgence of tariff policies and geopolitical trade tensions – is complicating these efforts. Some companies are using this disruption as an opportunity to restructure supply chains regionally, enhancing transparency and enabling closer monitoring of environmental and labour practices.68 The private sector is at an inflection point.69 Awareness is expanding from isolated compliance functions to broader strategic planning. In this evolving environment, long-term business success increasingly depends on whether companies can align economic strategy with investments in worker health and climate resilience. The next step is to move from understanding to action – building mechanisms to translate this awareness into durable, scalable investments in labour resilience across the supply chain. Our argument is simple: because of climate, you have put in place reporting standards on emissions for one’s own organization (i.e. Scope 1) and for the broader supply chain (i.e. Scope 2 and Scope 3). However, why is this not the case for health? That is the anomaly. Why is it that when it comes to the social aspect of reporting there is a lapse and we do not apply the same rigorous accountability standard? Glen Mpufane, Director of Mining, Diamonds, Gems, Ornaments and Jewelry Production and OHS Lead, IndustriALL Global Union Workforce Health Across the Value Chain: Organizational Insights to Mitigate Risk and Create Sustainable Growth 18