Factory assessments remain a key element of our human rights program. They establish whether factories are adhering to our Standards and are eligible to qualify for Reebok production. They also help us measure the performance of our program and identify where improvements are necessary.

Around the world, Reebok has field staff dedicated to improving labor conditions among the manufacturers that make our products. As part of this effort, our field staff evaluates the ability of factories to comply with our code before we place any orders and then continue to monitor factories as long as they are approved for Reebok orders. To do so, they conduct periodic risk-based inspections of factory workplace and living quarters, making both announced and unannounced visits. They currently use several strategies to assess workplace conditions: air testing, worker interviews, records review, management interviews, visual inspection, and consultation with organizations that have the trust of the workers.

Below we describe where we have conducted factory assessments, the issues we have found and how we are responding. We also explain why our data is not foolproof and the limits to our reporting.

Note: unless otherwise indicated the coverage & issues data presented relates to January – December 2005.

REEBOK COVERAGE BY COUNTRY
Field staff held thousands of meetings with factory managers and worker representatives to help resolve compliance issues, facilitate worker and management training sessions and review the policies and procedures of our program.

S-PROCESS COVERAGE
We conduct S-Process (pilot audits) in 28 factories across 9 countries in 2005.