Templates and records · ISO 26000:2010 · Clause 7.3.4
ISO 26000 social responsibility action plan template
What the company decides to do about the priority issues from the assessment: which action, who, when and how it will know whether it has worked.
In one sentence
The social responsibility action plan turns the priority issues from the assessment into actions with an owner, deadline, resources and indicator; it is good practice, because ISO 26000 recommends setting priorities for addressing the issues (7.3.4) and building them into management, without prescribing a format.
- Where the standard requires it
- ISO 26000:2010 · Clause 7.3.4 Clauses are cited using the numbering of ISO 26000:2010, the only edition published. As it is a guidance standard, no template is mandatory: all are listed as good practice.
- Type of information
- Good practice Good practice: ISO 26000 is a guidance standard (clause 7.3.4)
- Who fills it in
- Top management, on the proposal of the social responsibility lead Each action has an owner in the department concerned
- When
- After the assessment and every year Progress is monitored at least quarterly
- How long it is kept
- Decided by the organisation As a guidance standard, ISO 26000 sets no retention periods. Keeping several years’ worth lets you show progress over time, which is what stakeholders value most.
What the standard requires
What ISO 26000:2010 demands and what it leaves to your judgement
The guidance recommends setting priorities with regard to the severity of impacts, the time needed to act, consistency with the company’s values and stakeholder expectations. Some issues, such as breaches of the law, should be dealt with immediately.
It also recommends integrating social responsibility into existing systems and procedures rather than managing it separately. A plan that lives in a document apart from the company’s other objectives is rarely delivered.
Structure
Fields the template should include
- Priority issue and core subject
- Specific action
- Owner and resources
- Deadline
- Indicator and target
- Monitoring and status
- Outcome at closure
Example
Example: the cooperative’s 2026 plan (fictitious organisation)
Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| Seasonal worker housing | Refurbish two accommodation buildings · people manager · €180,000 · before the 2027 harvest |
| Water use | Soil moisture sensors across 400 hectares · agronomist · −10 % m³ per hectare in 2026 |
| Seasonal worker transport | Hire approved shared transport · purchasing · 100 % of routes by June |
| Progress at September | Sensors installed on 310 ha · consumption −7 % · transport completed · buildings at design stage |
At the audit
Mistakes auditors commonly flag
- Generic actions (“promote equality”) with no indicator or deadline.
- The plan bears no relation to the priorities from the assessment.
- Nothing is monitored until the annual report comes round.
- Actions depend on budgets nobody has approved.
In Kimobox
How this record is kept in Kimobox
- 1Each action has an owner and deadline by core subject.
- 2Social responsibility results are measured and compared over time on the dashboard.
- 3The system alerts the owner when an action falls behind.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask us before getting started
How many actions should the plan contain?
As many as the company can sustain. The guidance focuses on tackling the most serious and urgent issues first; a short plan that is delivered is worth more than a long one that is not.
Can it be combined with quality or environmental objectives?
That is the recommended route. ISO 26000 advises building social responsibility into existing processes, and a single objectives system avoids duplicate monitoring.
Keep your ISO 26000:2010 records without loose templates
We'll show you the module running with data similar to yours.
Keep exploring
Related pages
Organizational governance
Governance is the subject that runs through all the others: it's the system by which the organization makes…
ISO 26000 core subjects assessment template
How to decide which issues in the seven ISO 26000 core subjects are relevant and significant for your…
ISO 26000 stakeholder map template
How to identify and document stakeholders under ISO 26000 (5.3): their interests, how the company affects…
Human rights due diligence assessment template
How to document the human rights due diligence ISO 26000 recommends (6.3.3): risks, affected groups…
Sources
Where each figure comes from
References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.
- ISO 26000:2010 — Guidance on social responsibility ISO · 2010 ed.