sandstone indian · • working conditions should be safe and healthy • child labour should not...

IndianSandstone

THE TRUTH ABOUT IMPORTED

19676a_StonemarketBooklet 1/3/07 14:04

The popularity of Indian sandstone isgrowing fast. But are the cheaper optionsreally as attractive as they seem?

For example, would you really want a patio that had been made using child labour? Or how about that smartnew driveway… would you really feel as comfortable arriving home, knowing that the people who had madethe stone setts lacked the most basic protection or even the security of a living wage? Would you really condonesuch poor working conditions?

When choosing imported natural stone from an unverified source, here’s what you need to know:

FACT: Nearly 20% of workers in Indian quarries are children, some as young as six

FACT: Many quarries in India enforce bonded labour and exploit migrant labour

FACT: Illegal quarries are openly flouting international labour standards and safety laws

FACT: The environmental damage is disastrous for poor agricultural communities

Source: Budhpura ‘Ground Zero’ Sandstone Quarrying in India by Pmadhavan, Dr. Sanjay Raj, commissioned by India Committee of the Netherlands

THEFACTS

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19676a_StonemarketBooklet 1/3/07 14:04

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TheFacts

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TheDream

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TheReality

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MigrantWorkers

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IllegalQuarries

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LivingConditions

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ETIMembership

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Hadoti HastShlip Sansthan

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OurCommitments

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Why AreWe Involved?

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Child Labour

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BondedLabour

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Transport

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EnvironmentalDamage

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TheAlternative

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EnvironmentalImprovements

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Eco-friendly

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ConsumerChoice

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19676a_StonemarketBooklet 1/3/07 14:04 Page 4

Redesigning your outsidespace is one of the mostexciting transformations youcould make to your home.

Creating the right fusion ofhard and soft landscapingis essential to good gardendesign and can offer somany possibilities to suityour lifestyle.

But it’s not just getting theright balance between hardand soft landscaping thathelps you to enjoy everymoment in your garden.

Ensuring that the buildingmaterials in your gardenare ethically sourced andenvironmentally soundmeans you can feel evenbetter about your choices.

After all, there’s no betterplace to help create a moresustainable landscape than in your own garden.

However, most homeownersare completely unawarethat much natural stonecoming into the UK is fromhighly unethical sourceswith a large carbon footprint.

THEDREAM

WHERE INDIANSANDSTONEENDS UP…

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More and more gardenersare choosing natural stonefrom abroad to landscapetheir gardens, as it’s lessexpensive than naturalBritish stones like Yorkstone.

In fact, in 2005 over 120,000tonnes were imported intothe UK.

And unless sandstonecomes from a verifiedsource, there’s no way of knowing exactly how it has been produced – or at what cost, human and environmental.

‘A great number of issues in India’s natural stoneindustry need to beaddressed most urgently.Clearly, universal humanrights, ILO [InternationalLabour Organisation] conventions and relevantnational legislation are violated on a wide scale.’

‘From Quarry to Graveyard’,India Committee of theNetherlands, September 2006

THEREALITY

THE GROWINGUNREGULATEDMARKET

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Many suppliers importing Indian natural sandstone are not engaged in monitoring howtheir stone is produced. However, these independent checks are vital to ensure thatIndian Sandstone coming into the UK is not linked to terrible abuses of human rights.

Put simply, buying from an independently audited source is the only way that you can be sure that your imported natural stone has not been produced by young children.

Stonemarket is fundamentally committed to sustainable development and todemonstrating a high degree of social responsibility, particularly with regard to ethical trading and the environment.

As a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative, we are committed to improving the lives of workers who make our products. Now we aim to highlight issues linked to natural stone arriving in the UK so that consumers can understand the social and environmentalimpact of their choices.

WHY ARE WE INVOLVEDIN THIS ISSUE?

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In many Indian quarries, children workin harsh conditions producing stone setts,carrying heavy loads, wielding sledge-hammers and operating jack-hammers,without protective clothing.

On a recent trip to Budphura, disturbingscenes were witnessed of childrenworking in quarries to produce pavingdestined for the UK.

Little girls less than 10 years old perchmiserably among the stone setts theyhave made. This abuse cannot beallowed to continue unchecked.

Anti-Slavery International estimates thatroughly one million children work inIndia’s stone quarries (ILAB report, 2003).

Various studies* suggest that up to 25% of the workforce in quarries was madeup of children.

*Finnish Institute of Occupational Health:Child Labour in Sandstone Mines, 2002; ILAB report, 2003).

CHILD LABOUR

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Throughout history, desperately poor people have pledged their labour under any terms, in order to survive. Bonded labour is a system of forced or partly forced labour in which a person borrows money vital to survive, then works to pay off their debts to an employer.

These debts can be passed down generations, so children grow up destined for bondedlabour. Bonded labour is a violation of universal human rights. But despite being abolishedin 1976, it is thought that around 90%* of workers in Indian quarries are forced to work in order to pay off their debts.

*According to the Indian NGO Mine Labour Protection Campaign

‘Without exaggeration it can be said that a majority of quarry workers are indebted to its employers and works under conditions of bonded labour. When bonded workers die, their debts are often passed on to their families. Then the children are forced to go out to work in order to pay off these debts, perpetuating the situation of bondedness.’

‘From Quarry to Graveyard’, India Committee of the Netherlands, September 2006

BONDEDLABOUR

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Migrant workers tend tocome from the poorest ruralcommunities and areusually landless peasantsin search of any work theycan find.

Whole families of migrantworkers often work inquarries as ‘spoil removers’and are paid by the tractorload for the amount ofquarry waste they remove.

Migrant workers liveamong the spoil heaps,without even the most basic facilities.

There are no facilities inplace for their health, orthe education of theirchildren.

This represents anothervery serious issue for thesandstone industry – andone which we are helpingto address by funding thevoluntary organisation,Hadoti Hast Shlip Sansthan,which aims to improve thelives of migrant labourers.

MIGRANTWORKERS

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In the Bundi district, illegalquarries and corruption are rife, with many quarriesoperating recklessly and polluting the landscape,while evading all legalresponsibilities.

At these illegal quarries,young boys and men can be seen working in opensandals, with no gloves, no ear protection and noeye protection.

Even during a brief visit,there is clear evidence thatchildren are working toproduce setts and paving.

All around, abandonedspoil heaps devastate the landscape.

Yet in this immensely ruralcountry, even governmentland and protected areascannot be entirely safeguarded from illicit quarrying.

ILLEGALQUARRIES

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Workers in many quarrieslack the most basic facilitiesto fulfil their needs. Healthand medical facilities aredesperately needed, as are nurseries and schools.

Housing is poor, withouteven safe drinking water or sanitation and the mostvulnerable are those whosuffer most. Women andchildren are deprived ofeven minimum wages and welfare.

‘While death is sudden in accidents, it can be slow andpainful for workers afflicted by occupational diseases.Silicosis, tuberculosis and bronchitis due to inhalation ofdust are common among quarry workers… Malaria inBudphura is a man-made disaster… poverty, overcrowding,poor housing, all these aspects play a role in the slowprogress in achieving control over malaria.’

Budhpura ‘Ground Zero’ Sandstone Quarrying in India byPmadhavan, Dr. Sanjay Raj, commissioned by India Committee of the Netherlands.

LIVINGCONDITIONS

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TRANSPORTThere’s no doubt that Indian natural sandstone clocks up heavy mileage being shipped into the UK – it’s around4476 miles from Mumbai to London.

In order to minimise the environmental impact of ourproducts, we use independently verified product life cycle information to calculate how many tonnes of CO2are generated in the manufacture, supply and delivery of our hard landscaping materials.

We know that Stonemarket’s ethically sourced naturalsandstone products generate 84% more CO2 than our similarproduct ranges such as Millstone and Yorkstone, which looklike newly quarried Yorkstone but are made from reconstituted concrete.

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Deserted spoil heaps seem to cover an endless area of what was onceagricultural land.

Rudimentary attempts by some quarry owners to replant spoil heapsdemonstrates that at leastsome of the environmentaldamage can be repaired.

But for now, the dust fromquarries is causing seriousair and water pollution, with degradation of topsoiland scarcity of groundwatermaking it even more difficultto scratch out a living in thisharsh region.

IT IS ALL TOO CLEARWHAT EFFECT QUARRYING HAS HAD ON THE WATER TABLE

In the Bundi district, years of stone quarrying have left theirmark on the land. Travelling towards Budhpura, there aremany abandoned quarries and fields of sandstone setts.

ENVIRONMENTALDAMAGE

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The only way that natural stone suppliers can guaranteethat their products are ethically sourced is by activelymanaging their supply chain.

Regular independent auditing is essential to ensure thatsafety, environmental and human rights laws are upheld in quarries producing stone for the UK market.

The Stoneshippers India maisons yard in Kotademonstrates just how different life can be with help from a socially responsible British company.

At this site, proper personal protective equipment is used,adequate wages are provided and child labour is strictlybanned.

There is more to do, but the difference between thisoperation and other sites is already dramatic.

THEALTERNATIVE

PROPER PERSONALPROTECTIVE EQUIPMENTIS USED

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The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) is diverse alliance of retailers and brands, trade unionsand non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working collectively to tackle the complexquestions posed by ethical trade.

Our parent company is a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), therefore we arecommitted to adopting the ETI Base Code, which is based on the ILO's Conventions and iswidely accepted as a model code of practice. It contains provisions based on the followingprinciples:

• No-one should be forced to work

• Workers should be able to join and form trade unions

• Working conditions should be safe and healthy

• Child labour should not be used

• Working hours should not be excessive

• Wages should be enough to live on and provide some discretionary income

• Workers should be treated equally, regardless of their sex, ethnic group, religion or political opinions

• Where possible, workers should be provided with regular employment

• Workers should not be verbally, physically or sexually abused or disciplined

www.ethicaltrade.org

ETIMEMBERSHIP

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“I was very pleased to seethat Stoneshippers India iscontinuing to meet the ETIbase code that we havecommitted to ensuringexists in our supply chain.

There are many areas that I have discussed withStoneshippers India toimprove things further but it must recognised that theyare far ahead of any otherproducer, either for exportor local use.”

Chris HarropGroup Marketing DirectorDecember 2006

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INDEPENDENTAUDITING


IIn 2007, we are helping to fund Hadoti Hast Shlip Sansthan(HHSS), an NGO which helps rural migrant workers toimplement sustainable development programmes in themining areas of Rajasthan.

With our funding, Hadoti’s immediate priorities will beproviding medical aid through a mobile clinic andfortnightly medical camps to help treat widespreadtuberculosis, malaria and syphilis.

With match-funding from the Indian Government, we willalso be helping to pay for labours’ social security insurance,aiming to reach 1000 workers in 2007.

Future initiatives will aim to provide safe water, childcare, training and education, as well as supporting rural technology training and micro enterprises.

It has to be recognised thatthe culture and workingpractices in India are verydifferent to those in the UK.However, certain workingstandards are absolutelynon-negotiable for us:

• Its suppliers never usechild labour

• Personal ProtectiveEquipment is provided

• Adequate wages areensured at all sites

We are also helping thelocal school attended bythe children of workers atStoneshippers India – andproviding new outdoor playequipment to encouragechildren to attend school.

HADOTI HASTSHLIP SANSTHAN

OURCOMMITMENTS

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Environmental management is in its earliest days in ruralIndia. But innovations like water reprocessing and recyclingare already making a very real improvements.

At Stoneshippers India’s new stone calibration factory, theplant is equipped with a sophisticated water processingand recycling system to ensure that the waste material fromthe calibration process is managed carefully and not justallowed to run into the local water course.

For all the water used in manufacturing stone bought byStonemarket for the UK market, there is a system of filterbeds and a recycling system

We are committed to achieving the highest standards of environmental performance,by preventing pollution and minimising the impact of our operations. Our aim is that no lasting environmental damage occurs as a result of our activities.

Choosing environmentally friendly building materials makes a genuine, significant andpositive contribution to the eco rating of our homes. By balancing hard landscapingwith trees planting and other soft landscaping, it is perfectly possible to create a carbonneutral garden.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS

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ECO-FRIENDLY


It is clear that great economicbenefit is being gained by theIndian industry exporting productto the UK and the rest of Europe,but this must be balanced withthe two other essential strands of sustainability: social progressand environmental protection.

Only when the producers ofunethical and environmentallydamaging products are denied a market will those products besubstituted for products producedin a more sustainable manner.

Surely it is simply unacceptable for UK gardeners to buy productsthat have been made using child labour or bonded labour and without any regard forsocial or environmentalresponsibility.

We need to understand howwe can all contribute to the sustainability of our owndomestic landscapes, bychoosing hard landscapingthat has fair foundations.

These issues go far deeperthan any one producer can address. For progress to be made, it is essentialthat people buying stoneproducts sourced fromIndia are aware of the very real impact that their choices make.

CONSUMERCHOICE

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YOUR BUYING DECISIONS CAN ENCOURAGE CHANGE.


StonemarketOxford Road, Ryton on Dunsmore, Warwickshire CV8 3EJ

www.stonemarket.co.uk


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