The health and safety of supply chain workers is a key area of focus for Abercrombie & Fitch Co. We strive to ensure the facilities throughout our supply chain are safe and protect the health of those working in them.
A&F Co. Strategy
Through the A&F Co. social audit program, facilities throughout our supply chain are assessed to ensure health and safety requirements are adhered to by all parties. A&F Co. partners closely with our vendors to remedy findings found during the audit.
We work closely with our vendors to place a high priority on being prepared to deal with emergencies and making sure facilities have the appropriate equipment in place to keep the working conditions safe and healthy. For more information see Supplier Assessment.
Programs & Partnerships
Nirapon
A&F Co. is committed to supporting meaningful industry-wide safety improvements, and to ensuring the welfare of our employees and our vendors around the world. Since 2013, we have undertaken extensive remediation efforts in Bangladesh in order to partner with our suppliers to assess and address key matters in their factories, including workplace safety.
In continuing A&F Co.’s ongoing effort to make safety improvements in Bangladesh factories, our company joined Nirapon in 2019. Nirapon is an industry-led nonprofit organization that collaborates with global brands, retailers, manufacturers, and NGOs to create and sustain a culture of workplace safety in Bangladesh factories. The Nirapon Safety Management Program consists of:
Safety Systems – This process includes factory reporting with fact-based evidence and site visit, that help factory managers establish and sustain safety management systems.
Educational Programming – Train managers and factory-based trainers to help factory understand and execute safety policies and protocols
Worker Helpline – Operates by Amader Kotha, an independent organization that gives workers a way to report safety and other concerns to allow managers to resolve issues in a timely and sustainable ways.
To learn more about Nirapon, visit www.nirapon.org.
Employment Injury Scheme (EIS)
A&F Co. joined the Employment Injury Scheme (EIS) Pilot in 2024. This initiative, launched by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Bangladesh, aims to provide compensation payments for permanently disabled workers and the dependents of deceased workers, in accordance with international standards (ILO Convention No. 121).
Addressing Non-Compliance
If there are findings within the social audit pertaining to health and/or safety issues, A&F Co. teams work with Agents and Vendors to remedy those matters.
For example, if a factory is not properly monitoring certain matters, including eye guards on sewing machines or mis-use of personal protection equipment (PPE) by workers, the following actions may be undertaken to remedy the issues.
- A&F Co. partners with Better Work to establish and strengthen the health and safety management system and promote a culture of safety and health in the factory.
- The factory is required to copmlete training provided by Better Work to ensure that the factory’s health and safety team has the knowledge needed to resolve these issues.
- Efforts are taken to increase worker awareness of health and safety risks, and proper feedback mechanisms are put in place to enhance monitoring and resolution efficiency.
A&F Co. monitors the progress of issue correction through onsite visits or follow-up from Better Work Advisory team.
Measuring Our Progress
In 2024, the most common findings for the categories with the highest percentages are:
- First Aid & Machine Safety
- Machine guards properly installed
- Lighting, Noise, Temperature and Air Quality
- Provide proper PPE according to industrial hygiene assessment
- Take measures to address industrial hygiene assessment issues
The chart below shows the percentage of factories with findings of non-compliance in each category.
To help address these issues, A&F Co. partners with Better Work to strengthen the factories’ monitoring and management system, knowledge of legal requirement and sharing industry best practices. Factories in the Better Work program implement 15 – 25 training days (depending on the country). Based on the specific needs, each factory will develop their training plan under Better Work enterprise advisors’ guidance. In addition, Better Work will conduct 3-5 advisory visits to factories to develop improvement plans and assist factories to correct the issues.