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Human rights training, tools and guidelines

We have made significant progress in translating our commitment to human rights into guidelines and standards that set a common approach for the whole company. This includes practical guidance for our managers on the ground. We expect our suppliers, contractors and business partners to follow equivalent standards.

Staff training

For new staff and staff moving to new positions, we provide training on our Business Principles

All staff must complete training on what our Code of Conduct requires of them. Our Code gives staff more detailed instructions on our Business Principles, which include our commitment to support Human Rights. We also have general on-line human rights training available for all staff.

We do particularly intensive training in areas where we operate that have poor human rights records. For example, with the Danish Institute for Human Rights - opens in new window we have trained more than 1,500 staff in Nigeria since 2005 in managing difficult situations, like responding to conflict in local communities. With CLEEN Foundation - opens in new window, a leading Nigerian NGO, were are also training security staff to understand and follow our security standards, which include the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. - opens in new window

Tools and guidelines

With the help of human rights experts we have developed a series of practical ways to help us identify human rights risks and deal with the issues on the ground.

Human Rights Dilemmas - has been developed to supplement the Business and Human Rights primer. It has been reviewed by Amnesty International and Pax Christi. The supplement helps managers to understand their responsibilities and identify actions that they can take to support human rights.

Download Human Rights Dilemmas - A Training Supplement (PDF, 246 KB) - opens in new window

Human rights compliance tool - our work with the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) has helped us to understand and address the human rights risks we face when entering or operating in politically sensitive countries and regions.

The Institute’s Country Risk Assessments compare local laws and practices with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and more than 80 other international treaties. It identifies the main risk areas in a country, like labour rights for foreign labourers or the behaviour of security forces. Companies can use the tool to test the procedures and practices they have in place for respecting these rights, and work to close any gaps.

Shell began working with the Human Rights Compliance Assessment (HRCA) tools in 2001. We ‘road tested’ the tools in two countries in Africa and the Middle East. It helped us understand the tools better, and helped the DIHR to refine them further and ensure that they meet the particular needs of industry.

We experienced a number of benefits in using the tools. They complement existing risk processes, and provide systematic measuring and monitoring of human rights risks. They also raise internal awareness, develop competencies and potentially help with facilitating stakeholder dialogue.

We are now using the tools to assess our human rights risks when entering a new country.