ethical junction

Ethical and Environmental Policy

Ian Snow Ltd only buys from companies that do not discriminate against any of their employees in terms of sex,religion or ethnic background.We do not tolerate exploitation of artisans or producers involved in the manufacture of goods.We require that those employed by a producer or supplier should not work long hours that may not be consistant with their well being.We require that there is no discrimination against women and that a women doing the same work as a man will be paid the same wage levels as a man.It is understood that differentials of pay are based on differing skills and experience.We encourage all suppliers to look after the social needs of craftspeople and wherever possible to contribute to medical,educational and other social welfare measures for them and their families.We would wherever possible like to see the intoduction of training programmes,design imput and quality control programmes for all crafts people.We require all producers and suppliers to supply goods without the use of child labour.We would expect that all companies would have a poicy which prevented any worker of school age being employed by them.We expect all producers and suppliers to adopt environmental practices which reduce harm to the environment. In this regard we expect the minimum of packaging to be used except where necessary to prevent damage during transport. We encourage the use of recycled materials wherever possible in packaging and the manufacture of products. We do not want PVC to be used at any time.We expect that producers and suppliers of wooden items should provide information about the type of wood used and whether schemes are in place to prevent widespread deforestation of the particular tree type.
We are committed to preventing the use of chemical dyes that may be harmful to the environment and anyone who is involved in the manufacture or its subsequent use. We require all textile products to be made with the use of azo free dyes.

We expect all producers and suppliers to have controls as to the disposal of effluent/liquid waste. If they do not have controls in place at present that they must move to put controls in place in the near future.
We expect all producers and suppliers to control emissions to air.
We expect that all producers and suppliers have given adequate safety training to all workers and to ensure that all equipment used by workers is safe and adequate for the job.