The development of the movement of social responsibility throughout the world encouraged the emergence of standards on corporate social responsibility to meet the needs for credibility and comparability of the behaviors of the companies. It is in this objective that the reference frame of social responsibility " Social Accountability 8000 " was conceived by the SAI (Social Accountability International) in 1997. The goal is to publish an auditable international standard for socially responsible business.
The objective of this paper is double. Initially, to present this reference as being a new form of certification and social audit. Second, to study the possibilities of application of this reference through a survey carried out into perceptions of the various actors concerned with this project in the French context.