Factory Social Audit

HomeFactory Social Audit

Factory Social Audit

HomeFactory Social Audit

In a globalized world, increased self-initiative and consumer demand for transparency make it easier for people to learn about the production conditions of their favorite garment brands. In response, NGOs and activists may call for boycotts of brands that fail to meet ethical standards. This rising pressure prompts brands to adopt solutions that ensure compliance not only with product safety standards but also with social, local, and international regulations.

What is a Social Audit of a Factory?

The objective of a social audit is to provide an unbiased assessment of a supplier’s organization and practices, ensuring compliance with local laws, international standards, and internal codes of conduct. The audit team not only analyzes these aspects but also develops a corrective action plan and offers support in monitoring and implementation. Auditors can assist with change management through in-house training.

Continuous monitoring of suppliers helps protect a company’s brand image and enhance competitiveness, ultimately leading to cost savings and fostering long-term relationships.

API is a Full member firm of Association of Professional Social Compliance Auditors (APSCA) , accredited to conduct a wide range of recognized social audit  and verification programs including ICS, Sedex SMETA, SLCP, and tailored customer-specific solutions. With decades of experience across countries  and emerging markets, our APSCA Certified auditors help you safeguard brand reputation, ensure ethical practices, and drive continuous improvement across your supply chain.https://slconvergence.org/

Factory-social-audit
API is a proud member of the Association of Professional Social Compliance Auditors (APSCA), reinforcing its commitment to enhance the professionalisms, consistency and credibility of individual auditors.
sedex-logo
Brings buyers and suppliers together to manage performances around labour rights, health & safety, the environment and business ethics. We leverage the SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) methodology, an independent globally-recognised audit framework to assess responsible supply chain activities.
API - ICS Initiative for Compliance and Sustainability
Enhances working conditions and supports factories of its member to implement progress and compliance. Common tools to mutualize audits, reducing the 'audit fatigue' and sharing knowledge and best practices.
Implements a Converged Assessment Framework to support efforts to improve working conditions in global supply chains. Data collection tool and verification methodology which collects objective social and labor data that stakeholders can use to identify opportunities for improvement and track progress.

What We can Support

  • Factory Social Audits
    Accredited to conduct ICS Social Audits, Sedex SMETA Audits, and SLCP Verification, API provides comprehensive onsite assessments of labor practices, working conditions, and health & safety.
  • Customized Customer Programs  for social compliance due diligence
    Development and execution of tailored audit protocols aligned with your brand’s code of conduct, industry-specific standards, or customer-driven requirements.
  • Corrective Action Plan (CAP) Evaluation
    Structured CAP reviews designed to monitor supplier remediation progress, validate evidence, and ensure sustainable improvements.
  • Supply Chain Social Compliance Risk Assessment
    Systematic mapping, rating, and prioritization of supplier risks to support responsible sourcing, vendor selection, and long-term compliance strategies.
  • End-to-End Supply Chain Assessment
    Beyond factory-level checks, we evaluate upstream and downstream operations for a holistic view of compliance across the full supply chain.
  • Social Compliance & Health & Safety Training
    Training programs that upskill factory teams, suppliers, and brand representatives on compliance standards, worker health & safety, and audit readiness, ensuring long-term capacity building.

Benefits of this Factory Social Audit

The trends in retail have shifted and indicate that consumers today are more concerned about the way in which their products are made and the conditions in which they were made. 

In saying this, a social compliance audit will go a long way in making sure that: 

  • Brand’s image protection from unnecessary risks. 
  • Increased supply chain visibility and transparency with adequate documentation.  
  • Identification of supply chain weak points for supplier improvement and development of long-lasting relationships.

Why choose API for your Social Auditing?

Our approach to deliver an unbiased, comprehensive and relevant analysis of suppliers:

Because we maintain a close relationship with our customers, we can deliver a truly dedicated level of service, more specifically thanks to:

  • Tailor made and responsive solutions that larger companies cannot provide.
  • API Audit never hesitates to go an extra mile to accompany our customers.
  • API aims to act as an integrated part of our customer’s quality management system.

Because an audit result has no value without a genuine impartiality, we place a strong focus on ethics. This is why in API has developed:

  • A code-of-conduct with ethical values beyond the requirement of accreditation schemes.
  • Staff training, continuous supervision and random inspections to ensure adherence to the company’s code of conduct.
  • Strong procedure for monitoring auditor integrity.

Because only a strong local regulations and practices related expertise can provide added value to our customers, we place a strong emphasis on training and maintaining a highly skilled team of auditors:

  • Mix of international ( mostly European ) and local staff in auditing teams.
  • Auditor selection based on skills, knowledge and experiences.
  • Strong in-house training and expertise follow-up procedures.
  • Technical manager involved in European standardization committees.

Because our size and flexibility allows us to provide you with the best value for money, we have developed a scalable and adapted price grid to fit our customers’ needs:

  • A pricing system per man/day that is very straightforward and transparent.
  • We take pride in ensuring that no customer is ever overcharged.
  • Existing infrastructure and economies of scale are attractive to large volume customers.

Request a Quote

Want to know more about one of our many services? Contact us to find out more information about what API can do for your company today.​

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