If your customer has requested a SMETA audit, you're joining thousands of suppliers globally who undergo this ethical trade audit annually. SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) is one of the most widely recognized social compliance audit formats, and proper preparation can mean the difference between a smooth certification and costly corrective action plans.
What is SMETA and What Does It Cover?
SMETA is not a certification itself but an audit methodology developed by Sedex. It's built on the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) Base Code and follows a standardized format that covers four key pillars:
Labour Standards: Working hours, wages, disciplinary practices, contracts, child labour prevention, forced labour, freedom of association, and discrimination policies.
Health & Safety: Site safety, emergency procedures, PPE provision, accident reporting, risk assessments, fire safety, first aid, and machine guarding.
Environment: Waste management, emissions, energy and water use, environmental permits, hazardous materials handling, and pollution prevention.
Business Ethics: Anti-bribery and corruption policies, whistleblowing mechanisms, intellectual property protection, and accurate record-keeping.
Most suppliers undergo a "SMETA 4-pillar" audit, though some customers only require 2-pillar audits (labour and health & safety).
If your customers are in electronics, you may encounter the sector's own version of this: the RBA VAP audit covers very similar ground—labour, safety, environment, ethics—under the Responsible Business Alliance Code of Conduct, and much of the preparation below applies to both.
Documents Auditors Expect to See
Auditors will request documentation before the on-site visit. Having these organized in advance saves significant time:
- Employee records: Contracts, payroll records (last 12 months), time-keeping records, personnel files, proof of age documentation
- Health & safety documentation: Risk assessments, accident logs, fire drill records, training certificates, PPE issue records, maintenance logs
- Policies: Disciplinary procedure, grievance mechanism, working hours policy, child labour prevention, anti-harassment, environmental policy
- Environmental records: Waste transfer notes, hazardous waste manifests, environmental permits, utility bills, emissions data if applicable
- Business ethics: Code of conduct, supplier agreements, anti-corruption policy, whistleblowing procedure
If the environmental pillar asks for emissions or waste figures you've never calculated, you don't need a consultant: the free carbon calculator works out emissions from your utility bills, and the waste calculator turns waste transfer notes into totals and a diversion rate.
If you're managing ESG documentation across multiple customer questionnaires, tools like ESG Passport can help centralize this information so it's audit-ready when needed.
Common Non-Conformances and How to Avoid Them
Based on thousands of SMETA audits, these issues appear repeatedly:
Excessive working hours: Workers exceeding 60 hours per week or not receiving the required rest days. Solution: Implement genuine monitoring of hours, not just what's written in the time-keeping system.
Wage calculation errors: Incorrect overtime rates, missing holiday pay, or deductions that bring pay below minimum wage. Solution: Have a competent person audit your payroll calculations before the audit.
Missing risk assessments: Either not conducted or not documented properly for all workstations and tasks. Solution: Complete risk assessments for every work area and significant task, with control measures documented.
Incomplete training records: No evidence workers have been trained on the risks identified in risk assessments. Solution: Create training sign-off sheets that link directly to your risk assessments.
Blocked emergency exits: Surprisingly common, even in otherwise compliant facilities. Solution: Do a daily walk-through before the audit period.
Missing environmental permits: Operating equipment or processes that require permits without having obtained them. Solution: Check with your local environmental agency what permits your operations require.
How to Prepare: 4-6 Weeks Before Audit Date
Week 1-2: Gather all documentation listed above. Identify gaps. If you're missing policies, create simple, honest documents that reflect what you actually do.
Week 3-4: Conduct a mock audit. Walk through your facility as if you're the auditor. Interview a sample of workers about working hours, wages, safety training, and grievance procedures. Check their answers against your documentation.
Week 5: Train supervisors and managers on what the audit involves and what auditors will ask. Make sure reception staff know the audit is happening and who the designated contact person is.
Week 6: Do a final facility inspection. Fix obvious safety issues (blocked exits, missing fire extinguisher tags, unlabeled chemical containers, broken equipment).
During the Audit
Auditors will typically conduct an opening meeting, facility tour, worker interviews, document review, and closing meeting. Worker interviews are often the most revealing part—auditors speak with workers privately to verify what management has documented.
Be honest. If you don't have something, say so. Auditors appreciate transparency far more than being told you have a policy or procedure when you clearly don't.
Closing Findings: The Corrective Action Plan
Non-conformances are graded as minor or major. Major issues include serious safety risks, child labour, forced labour, or significant legal violations. These require immediate attention.
For each non-conformance, you'll need to submit a corrective action plan (CAP) that includes:
- Root cause analysis (why did this happen)
- Immediate corrective action (what you did right away)
- Preventive action (what you're putting in place to prevent recurrence)
- Evidence (photos, revised procedures, training records)
- Completion date
Most audit firms give 90 days for minor findings and 30 days for major findings. If you use a platform like ESG Passport to manage your ESG data, updating your corrective actions and tracking completion becomes far more manageable across multiple audits and customer requirements.
Final Thoughts
SMETA audits are demanding but navigable with proper preparation. Focus on having honest documentation that reflects actual practice, train your team on what to expect, and address obvious issues before the auditor arrives. The goal isn't perfection—it's demonstrating genuine commitment to continuous improvement in ethical trade practices.
What Customers Usually Accept Before the Audit
Customers usually want to see that you have a realistic audit preparation plan, not that every document is perfect before the auditor arrives. A credible preparation pack includes current policies, worker records, payroll evidence, health and safety risk assessments, training logs, permits, and a named internal owner for the audit. If a gap exists, document the gap and the corrective action already underway.
For SMEs, the most persuasive evidence is often ordinary operational evidence: payslips that match time records, training sign-off sheets, maintenance logs, fire drill records, accident investigations, and photos of corrected safety issues. These show the auditor that your procedures are actually used.
Internal Mock Audit Checklist
Before the audit, walk the site with someone who was not involved in preparing the documents. Ask them to check emergency exits, chemical storage, machine guarding, worker noticeboards, first-aid supplies, and whether supervisors can explain working-hours rules. Then sample five employee records and verify that contracts, right-to-work documents, wage calculations, training records, and attendance data are consistent. Record every finding, even minor ones, and close the obvious issues before audit day.
Official References
Related Guides
- EcoVadis vs CDP vs Sedex: Understanding Customer ESG Platforms
- IntegrityNext Questionnaire: How to Prepare and What to Expect
- SAQ (Self-Assessment Questionnaire) Response Guide for Suppliers
Audit-ready data in one place.
ESG Passport stores your policies, training logs, safety data, and workforce metrics — organized and ready for SMETA.