Compliance Audit Checklist in Apparel Industry:

Compliance means conformity to a certain standard.
A factory Compliance audit is a standardized process needed by the customer to pick a supplier or vendor if the supplier complies with the required business standards. Regular factory audit involves with supplier’s Quality Management System (QMS), production processes, and compliance with safety measures. Factory Management & Administrative personnel should take care of the below-mentioned points to achieve an acceptable score on the compliance audit determined by the customer.   

Compliance Audit Checklist:

Entrance Gate:

1. Dress of the Guards: All guards should be smartly dressed, shaved, and with polished boots.
2. Visitor’s Register: Need to see that it is maintained correctly and all the days are there.
3. Visitor’s Cards should be available at the gate for displaying on the visitors’ chests.
4. List of Guards and their duty schedule.
5. Responsibilities of guards: Guards should know and as well as should also be hanged on the guard’s room.
6. Checking devices/equipment like Hand detectors or Gate with Electric Sensor.
7. All guards should have police verification and clearance.
8. Vehicle In/Out Register.
9. Goods In/Out Register.
10. Duty-Check Register by Security In-Charge/Shift In-Charge

Vehicle Parking Area:

1. Marked and Separate Parking Area for Guests and Visitors.
2. Parking area for own Vehicles.
3. Parking/Loading and unloading area for other transport will be carrying Yarn, Fabric or Cargo for shipment.

Preparation for Evaluation Team:

1. Prepare a separate room for Evaluating Team.
2. An arrangement of necessary drinking water and refreshment (know their food habits and business terms and norms).
3. Keep arrangements of Transport (if they ask for it).

Keep the following Files and Documents Ready for Evaluating Team

·         Workers’ Files

·          Service Book

·         Salary and OT payment sheet of the previous six months

·         List of Holidays

·         Maternity Leave Register.

·         File of Daily Strength of Workers

·         Register of Fire Drill

·          Register of Injury and Accident.

·         Testing Report of Drinking Water from Civil Surgeon or Appropriate Authority.

·          List of Trained Fire Fighter and First Aid Qualified Personnel/Nurses

·          List of Fire Fighting Team

·          Papers of recharging of Fire Extinguishers.

 All License and Registration Documents:

·         Trade License.

·         Factory License

·         BGMEA Membership Certificate

·         Export License

·         Import License

·         Incorporation Certificate of EPB

·         Fire License.

·         The license of Bonded Warehouse

·         Clearance Certificate on Environment Pollution from the Directorate of Environment

·         Inspection Certificate of Boilers and Compressors

·         Deviation Chart for Boilers and Compressors

·         Maintenance records of all Generators, Boilers, and Compressors.

Generator Room: The following are to be ensured:

1. Everybody is using an earplug.
2. Entry of unauthorized persons is restricted.
3. Required fire extinguishers and fire alarms are there.
4. The temperature of the room is within an acceptable limit.
5. No naked wire is seen.
6. Danger signs are posted in a conspicuous location so that catch everybody’s eyes before the entrance.
7. Everybody is using insulation boots/shoes.
8. Display routine and major maintenance schedule.

Boiler & Compressor Room: Ensure the following:

1. Signposting of ‘Entrance is Restricted’ is displayed.
2. All safety measures of boilers are in operation.
3. The temperature of the room is within an acceptable and tolerable limit.
4. Availability of ‘Inspection Certificate’ of Boiler & Compressor.
5. Availability of Routine, Periodic, and Major Maintenance charts.
6. Availability of Deviation Chart.

Cutting Floor should ensure the following:

1. The floor should be neat and clean with sufficient light.
2. The walkway should not be obstructed by anything.
3. All waste-cut pieces of fabric should be cleaned immediately.
4. White and colored fabric should be stacked separately.
5. All fabric is to be kept wrapped with other fabric so that flying dust of cut fabric cannot contaminate the fabric.
6. All fabric must be cut after giving sufficient relaxation and supporting documents in this connection to be maintained for evaluation purposes.
7. No fabric should be kept on the floor rather all fabric should be on the wooden pallet.
8. While cutting fabric the cutter should use metal hand gloves and everybody should use a dust mask.
9. Should maintain documents of all Fabric Inspection (at least for the last six months)
10. Should maintain the ‘Cutting Knife Issue Register’ and all used knives to be preserved in the Register.
11. In the factory, nobody should use any used knife for any purpose.
12. Cutting register to be maintained and preserved.
13. All documents related to ‘Cutting Quality Control’ like spreading quality, cutting quality, after cutting quality, Checking cut-pieces with a paper pattern, checking top, middle, and last cut pieces for its accuracy, Checking miss-cut, rag-cut, numbering, bundling and issue of input to be maintained so that any time anybody is asking for the such record can be presented.
14. The floor should display the evacuation plan on the floor.

The sewing  floor Should ensure the followings:

1. The floor should be knit and clean.
2. No fused light should be there on the floor and the floor should have sufficient light as per requirement (usually not below 80 candlelight power)
3. The walkway should be kept clean and free from any obstruction.
4. Should have sufficient Fire-Extinguisher on the floor and the expiry date of all fire-extinguisher must be checked and kept updated.
5. Places of all Fire-Extinguisher must be marked with red and yellow color and the approach road to Fire-Extinguisher must be free from any obstruction.
6. All Machines should have Needle Guard, Pulley Guard, and Eye-Guard.
7. Oil level of all machines should be within the accepted level.
8. All Machines should have maintenance cards.
9. Each floor should have a machine maintenance register.
10. There should be an input and output register to control.
11. All documents related to Quality Control (Process Check, 7 pcs inspection (if done), End Table Quality Audit Report of hourly production.
12. Overall quality report of the floor.
13. Broken Needle Register and Issue Register.
14. Policy on Rejected garments and their preservation.
15. Policy on lost broken needles and preservation of garments for the record.
16. Recording of Hourly Production on the Production Board.
17. Records of Time Study and Work Study (if any).
18. Record of Hourly Production.
19. Ensure availability of First-Aid Box with required Medicine.
20. Ensure Availability of Drinking Water with drinking facilities.
21. Ensure Cleanliness of toilets and availability of Water, Tissue Papers, soap for hand-washing, and wastebasket in the toilets, especially for Ladies' Toilets.
22. Ensure the availability of Complain Box in the toilets with a lock.
23. Ensure dryness of the toilet and with sufficient light and exhaust so that no bad smell is prevailing in the toilet.
24. Ensure that the ratio of toilets is correct for both males and females.
25. The Evacuation Plan is placed as per floor orientation.

Finishing Floor: Need to check and ensure the followings:

1. The floors are neat and clean.
2. Sufficient lights are there as per compliance requirements.
3. There are no unnecessary garments on the Finishing Floor.
4. All Table Cloths are clean.
5. All floor markings are correct and the walkway is not obstructed by anything.
6. The evacuation plan is placed in the orientation and alignment of the floor.
7. The exhaust steam of iron is sucked out from the floor.
8. Spot lifting with the spot-lifting gun is done in an isolated area and the sprayed chemicals are sucked out from the floor by an exhaust fan.
9. All records of inspections (like measurement, 2 Hourly Inspection, Day Final, Lot-Final, Pre Final, and Finals) are preserved.
10. See that the Needle Detecting Machines are placed in isolation and the area is marked as ‘METAL FREE ZONE”.
11. Need to check that the Needle Detecting Machines are calibrated every day and the records are preserved in this connection.
12. No carton is kept in the floor and the height of the carton is not more than six feet.
13. Ensure that if the carton is stacked on the rack having a height of more than six feet then they must use the ladder for handling the carton.
14. Ensure that no unauthorized person is entering to Finishing Floor.

Fabric Store:

1. All fabric must be kept over wooden pallets.
2. Fabric stack should not be more than six feet in height.
3. The fabric should be stacked as per the dye lot.
4. On receipt of the fabric, 10/15 % fabric must be randomly inspected on 4 point system and the inspection result must be preserved at least for six months.
5. Ensure that fabric inspection tables are available and are fitted with sufficient lights.
6. While inspecting the fabric then all dye-lot and shades of the fabric must be made and preserved and the fabric to be issued as per dye-lot / shade.
7. Fabric GSM of all fabric must be checked and the GSM swatches to be preserved for future reference.
8. Ensure that there is no naked wire in the fabric store.
9. Ensure that there is a sufficient fire extinguisher in the store and is placed in such a place that the same can be easily used in time of emergency.
10. Ensure that there is a smoke detector and fire-alarm is placed in the store and that the same are in working condition.
11. Ensure that the store has got the minimum required number of lights and that the user switches are spark-free.
12. Ensure that the fabric store has got required ventilation and store is free from any suffocation.
13. Ensure that no unauthorized labor/workers are working in the store.
14. Ensure all fabric stacks have got their Bin-Card with the required information (like Buyer, Fabric Type, GSM, Quantity, received date, etc…etc…).
15. If the fabric is stored in a wooden or steel rack with a height of more than six feet then a ladder to be used during storing and issuing of fabric.
16. Ensure that the fabric received and issue registers are up-to-date.

General Points for Compliance Audit: 

Besides all the above following points also to be taken care of before any evaluation:

1. Cleanliness of the surrounding areas.
2. Keep close observation that there are no minor boys or girls getting into the premises for any reason (like carrying food for parents, daily labor, subcontracted labor, etc….).
3. Ensure that no laborers (like Mason, daily laborers, carpenters, drivers of guests’ cars, etc… are smoking on the premises.
4. Try to avoid any whitewashing or painting of the building on the evaluation day, if at all cannot be avoided then the worker should maintain necessary security measures for such work.
5. Ensure that workers are not taking food sitting on the road or in open spaces at lunchtime. They should also not throw any waste in a scattered way rather must dispose of it in the waste litter box
6. Ensure that workers not making any noise at the time of lunch break.
7. Ensure that all perimeter security lights are in working condition and their placement and direction are correct so that the specified areas are lighted with sufficient lights.