Brands have their suppliers for three decades with modest results.
An announced audit measures a factory's ability to prepare for an audit.
Double books, workers and temporary safety equipment are all documented practices.
Unannounced visits perform better and are resisted for commercial reasons.
The deeper problem is that purchasing practice contradicts the audit.
A buyer who demands a shorter and a lower unit price creates the the same buyer later penalises.
Factories accept because the order is large and the alternative is no order.
Reform therefore has to reach the commercial terms rather than the code of conduct.
Recent legislation in several countries makes a company for harm in its supply chain.
changes behaviour faster than any voluntary standard, because it reaches the finance department.
It also creates an incentive to shorten the chain, which has ambiguous effects.
A brand that leaves a difficult country improves its own risk profile and removes the jobs.
Worker organisation remains the only mechanism that operates continuously rather than annually.
Agreements that give a role in monitoring have outperformed audits wherever both have been tried.
They are also the measure that brands concede last.