Factory Auditing

 

Overview of the industry

This research encompasses the factory monitoring systems which operate in labor-intensive manufacturing sectors, most notably garment production. Although monitoring systems vary widely, typically two parties are involved: oversight organizations and factory inspection companies. Oversight organizations maintain codes of conduct, hold training sessions, and accredit specific factory inspection companies to perform audits (inspections) and give certification. These organizations are usually are not-for-profit. Factory inspection companies visit factories and assess their compliance with the codes of conduct of the oversight organization. Factory inspection companies are usually for-profit. Depending on the type of certification system, either factories or brands initiate the process by contacting an oversight organization or one of the factory inspection companies. Because supply chains of large retail brands often consist of thousands of factories, only a small percentage of their factories are usually inspected. Factories that are chosen for inspection are usually visited once every few years. Visits from inspectors last several days at most, depending on the size of the factory. Factories and brands pay the oversight organizations and inspection companies for their certification services. The results of audit reports are usually kept confidential as proprietary information of the retail brands and factories.

Each oversight organization maintains their own code of conduct, which is a list of labor standards and safety conditions that factories must meet to gain certification. A comparison of key oversight organizations’ codes of conduct can be viewed in the interactive Google spreadsheet here (or as a pdf here). It should be noted that while strength of the standards is important, inspection protocols and enforcement mechanisms are more essential to ensuring the rights of workers.

The operations of oversight organizations and factory inspection companies are not well known, despite playing a crucial role in safeguarding workers’ rights. To promote a deeper understanding of the monitoring industry, the practices of these firms are documented here.

 

Research on oversight organizations

Below is a list of the major oversight organizations. Where available, detailed profiles of these organizations can be viewed by clicking on the links. Profiles will be uploaded as research is completed.

 

Research on factory inspection companies

There are dozens of factory inspection companies around the world. They vary in size, from large, multi-national corporations to very small, local firms. Profiles of a small sample of these companies are presented below.

 

 

This research is ongoing and seeks to produce relevant work that informs scholars, journalists, and activists. All questions and comments are welcomed at the email address here.