Why does CCC criticise commercial audits?

The majority of brands and retailers now rely on “social audits”: inspections of factories by external firms.

Our research shows that the audit industry fails spectacularly in its stated mission of protecting workers and improving working conditions. 

Too often, audits are tick-box exercises that exclude workers, reveal superficial interest from retailers and brands, and turn a blind eye to red flags. They’re also notoriously secretive: the results aren’t usually shared publicly or with affected workers. And with no governing body to ensure that the findings of audits are meaningfully acted on, there’s zero accountability. 

In essence, they allow brands to clean up their public image, whilst making little or no changes to actual working conditions. 

For meaningful change, governments and brands must place garment workers' experiences at the centre of solutions to identify and mitigate harm. Such solutions should include binding agreements, with real consequences, like the Safety Accord that followed the Rana Plaza disaster, and building fair and long-term relationships with suppliers and factories so that the brand shares responsibility for improving working conditions.