ResponsibleSteel is the world’s first global and independent standard for responsibly sourced and produced steel. The ResponsibleSteel standard provided a tool to evaluate and strengthen Outokumpu’s sustainability work through an ambitious industry-level framework with a beyond-compliance approach. Combined with external auditing and stakeholder engagement, ResponsibleSteel enhances the credibility and transparency of our sustainability work
ResponsibleSteel has currently around 13% of the world’s steel industry in membership. There are over 80 ResponsibleSteel certified sites globally, producing over 130 million tonnes of steel annually. Outokumpu is the first steel company in Northern Europe to receive the certificate.
ResponsibleSteel surveillance audits at Outokumpu's European operations
ResponsibleSteel certificates were issued to Outokumpu’s manufacturing sites in Finland, Germany and Sweden in March 2024. Outokumpu was the first stainless steel industry company in the Nordics to receive the ResponsibleSteel certificate.
The ResponsibleSteel certification scheme includes surveillance audits to evaluate progress that is made against the standard’s requirements based on the certification audit findings. The surveillance audits will take place at Outokumpu’s manufacturing sites in Finland, Sweden and Germany in May-June 2025.
The surveillance audits include site-specific readiness check, on-site audits as well as worker and stakeholder interviews by an external auditor. More information on the surveillance audits and related stakeholder engagement process can be found here: Planned and Ongoing Audits | ResponsibleSteel.
The ResponsibleSteel certification scheme covers all material sustainability aspects concerning Outokumpu’s operations. These include impacts on climate and biodiversity, water stewardship, occupational health and safety, human rights, diversity and inclusion, stakeholder engagement, responsible sourcing and governance.
The standard consists of 13 Principles on environmental, social and governance topics. They are further divided into various criteria and more detailed requirements that are externally audited.
Dedicated stakeholder outreach processes take place in parallel with the on-site audits. The purpose of these processes is to listen to the views the various stakeholders have on Outokumpu’s operations locally (see below).
Reaching out for local stakeholder views
External stakeholder outreach is a crucial part of the ResponsibleSteel surveillance audits. The stakeholder outreach process in each country will take place in native language. These processes are conducted by an external certification body, DNV, that is responsible for the surveillance audits. To ensure confidentiality and impartiality, Outokumpu has no role in this process.
You may let the local DNV auditor know via the email responsible.steel@dnv.com that you consider yourself a stakeholder of a given Outokumpu site and want to share your views on our sustainability performance.
Engaging with our local stakeholders and listening to possible concerns and other thoughts on us and our operations is important to us, so we encourage you to join this process to share your views. The anonymized stakeholder feedback given to us by our auditors will be used to develop our stakeholder engagement processes further.
Any questions about ResponsibleSteel? Please send your questions to Anna Vainikainen, Head of Human Rights, at anna.vainikainen@outokumpu.com.