The integrity of the occupational health and safety profession is under threat as it is being drawn into “certifying” that sweatshop factories in global supply chains in the developing world are safe and meet international standards for protecting workers on the job. These certifications are a sham and threaten to paint all OHS professionals as complicit in a corrupt charade.
In January 2012, following a series of devastating articles in the New York Times about abusive and dangerous conditions in its supply chain, Apple joined the corporate-funded Fair Labor Association (FLA). Apple commissioned the FLA to conduct audits of three of the Chinese factories operated by its principal supplier, Taiwan-based Foxconn.