Social auditing has “failed spectacularly” claims report

AMSTERDAM – The multi-billion dollar social auditing industry has failed garment workers “spectacularly” and is inherently flawed claims a new report. Clean Clothes Campaign claims the tool simply protects brand reputation and profits while standing in the way of more transparent, worker-centric solutions that might better protect garment workers. The report offers examples of “corporate negligence” from the past decade including the Ali Enterprises factory fire in Pakistan in September 2012, the Rana Plaza building collapse snd the boiler explosion in the Multifabs factory. “Each of these factories had been assessed and declared safe by several of the prevailing auditing companies, including TÜV Rheinland, Bureau Veritas, and RINA, using the standard, methodology and guidance of leading compliance initiatives such as amfori BSCI and SAI,” says the report. “In the cases of both Ali Enterprises and Rana Plaza, accredited auditors had deemed these facilities safe just weeks or months before they were reduced to ruins. In terms of Ali Enterprises, this assessment was made by auditors who reportedly never even visited the building.”