Testing methods of assessing garment workers' conditions

A tripartite group of ETI members worked together in Sri Lanka to test different approaches to audits of workers' conditions. The project generated robust findings on the most effective ways of finding out what's really going on in supplier workplaces.

Why we took action

Audits of supplier workplaces remain the most popular tool for companies to obtain baseline information on working conditions and practices, against which they can track progress. But it is widely acknowledged that audits often fall short of providing a true picture of workers' conditions. ETI members found that, as in many sourcing countries, the quality of audits carried out in Sri Lanka was poor, with auditors often lacking the skills to be able to carry out effective worker interviews, and failing to pick up serious breaches of the ETI Base Code.

In this project, we aimed to identify the most credible approach to audits in Sri Lankan garment factories by comparing the depth, accuracy and quality of information revealed by different audit approaches.

First, we brought together and started to build trust among a multi-stakeholder group of trade unions, NGOs and Sri Lankan manufacturers that were supplying ETI members. This group acted as a local counterpart to ETI's UK-based multi-stakeholder group.

Next, we took different audit teams using three different audit approaches and trialled them on the island. These different approaches were:

• A commercial audit approach, performed by a commercial audit firm selected by the project group.
• Self-audit approaches, conducted by retailer members of the ETI project group, at their own suppliers' sites.
• A multi-stakeholder audit approach, created by the Sri Lanka multi-stakeholder group and conducted by a specially trained team.

Between 2001 and 2007, two rounds of audits were conducted at seven garment factory sites, using the different audit approaches.

Involving workers in the process

To help workers prepare for the audits, the group produced an awareness-raising brochure on the ETI Base Code - written and illustrated in a way that workers could relate to and understand - and set up a training programme for workers in the pilot factories. Altogether, more than 8,500 workers were trained on the provisions of the ETI Base Code, and the brochure (produced in Tamil and Sinhalese) was distributed to over 17,000 workers in total, helping them understand about ethical trade and their rights as workers.

The group also developed an experimental ‘worker complaints mechanism' to investigate and respond to complaints made by garment workers via a telephone hotline. Valuable lessons were learnt about the way such mechanisms should be set up and operated, including the need to establish independence and credibility, and to build workers' trust.

Audits - what works?

The project generated some interesting findings.

First, it overturned the opinion previously held by many that in-house audits are not credible. In the first round of audits, the best and most robust form of auditing was found to be a company's own in-house model.

We also found that the quality of both in-house and commercial audits was greatly improved when a fully briefed and experienced local NGO conducted on and off-site worker interviews as a key part of the audit.

Another conclusion was that the skills and experience of auditors, and how closely they adhered to the prescribed audit methodology, were crucial.

According to project co-ordinator Sonali Gunesekera, it helped if the auditors had personal attributes such as "compassion, objectiveness, fearlessness in pursuing information and the mind of a detective."

Building dialogue

As well as generating valuable insights into audit practice, this was the first long-term project in Sri Lanka to bring trade unions, NGOs and manufacturers together in regular dialogue about workers' rights. With a history of tense relations between these different stakeholders, this was a major achievement.

The lessons learned from this project will be taken into account in future ETI guidance on how to get the best results from workplace auditing.