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Apple has revealed in its 2012 supplier responsibility progress report that it has increased its inspection of factories in a bid to ensure better working conditions for suppliers’ employees. This is the first time Apple has revealed details about its supply chain.
After a number of suicides committed by workers at Foxconn’s Chinese factories over the past few years, Apple has bumped up its factory inspections and has conducted 229 audits at different facilities over the past year.
Discoveries found in the report include 108 facilities with payment violations and 93 factories that had employees who had exceed their weekly working hour limit.
In the report Apple states: “Our audits have always checked for compliance with environmental standards. In 2011, in addition to our standard audits, we launched a specialized auditing program to address environmental concerns about certain suppliers in China.
Third-party environmental engineering experts worked with our team to conduct detailed audits at 14 facilities. We uncovered some violations and worked with our suppliers to correct the issues.”
