What is LABS?

The Life and Building Safety (LABS) Initiative is an industry-driven program, in which multiple brands and retailers are joining forces with public organizations to operate a scalable program to mitigate preventable fire, electrical and structural safety risks in key textile, apparel and footwear producing countries in a targeted way.

LABS helps organisations to identify serious structural, fire and electrical safety risks, and providing them with sustainable solutions and improvements to address those risks.

Why Are We Here?

Many workers in key textile, apparel and footwear producing countries work in unsafe environments which can have lethal consequences. That’s why it’s the mission of the LABS Initiative to provide safer working conditions for factory workers in the textile, apparel and footwear sectors.

We organize our activities around identifying and solving risks related to fire and electrical hazards, structural building safety, and evacuation, so workers can lead better lives.

How Are We

Making A Difference ?

LABS delivers a harmonized framework for assessments, remediation, monitoring, and providing safety training to the workers, empowering them to identify and report safety issues, fostering a safer and more inclusive work environment. Additionally, we collaborate with key organizations in our operational countries, aiming to drive industry-wide commitment to safety.

Supported with a public Dialogue and by other constructive partners, to create in-country capacity and lon-term local owenership

Our Impact

Transparency is at the core of the Life and Building Safety program. By openly sharing insights from the program, we aim to empower stakeholders with critical information. Therefore, maintaining a high level of transparency, LABS publicly shares information around its standard, activities, progress, and remediation status of factory partners.


Worker Empowerment

Worker Empowerment

Fostering a safe and inclusive work environment, empowering workers with the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute to a safer work environment

Supply Chain Transparency

Supply Chain Transparency

Increasing transparency across the supply chain by sharing information about assessments and remediations

Enhancing Safety Standards

Enhancing Safety Standards

Collaborating with industry peers to establish and uphold safety standards in manufacturing facilities

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Factories onboarded

508
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Worker reached

1,034,876
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Safety trainings conducted

906
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Factories assessed

490

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News & Resources

19 February, 2024

LABS Newsletter – January 2024

As we step into 2024, we are pleased to bring you the latest edition of the Life and Building Safety (LABS) Initiative’s Quarterly Newsletter.

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23 January, 2024

LABS Newsletter – January 2023

The final quarter of 2022 saw many activities and events which enabled the team to close the year on a high note.

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23 January, 2024

LABS Annual Report 2022

We are excited to present our Annual Report for 2022, showcasing our achievements and lessons learned for the year.

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23 January, 2024

Platform for Safety in Apparel and Footwear Industry (PSAFI)- White Paper

LABS recently launched the ‘Platform for Safety in Apparel and Footwear Industry (PSAFI)’.

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23 January, 2024

Platform for Gender Equality in Apparel and Footwear in Cambodia

This briefing paper outlines the overall goal and provides the outcomes from the “PGEAFC”

Read more

Where we Work

What are our Stakeholders saying?

Kyle Bogler

Every day, more than one million people go to work in a job that supports the production of VF products and we believe their safety and well-being is non-negotiable. To ensure a continued focus on improving worker safety in the apparel and footwear industry, VF is proud to be a founding partner of the Life and Building Safety (LABS) Initiative to improve structural, electrical and fire safety in garment factories across the globe. VF is committed to this essential work and the LABS initiative is a key step in addressing systemic safety issues within our industry to help prevent future incidents.

Kyle Bogler

Director, VF Worker Rights and Safety, VF Corp.
Gokul Krishnan

We believe collaboration within the retail industry and with suppliers, governments and NGOs go a long way towards creating a more responsible supply chain. We focus on operating our business in a way that promotes shared value, which includes supporting our suppliers, advocating for workers in the supply chain and helping lead the effort to tackle unhealthy and unsafe working conditions. LABS is the type of collaborative effort we want to support as we believe this effort to effectively identify and remediate the most pressing risks related to fire, electrical, and structural building safety and evacuation is incredibly important for workers and a safer supply chain.

Gokul Krishnan

Vice President of Apparel Production and Sourcing, Walmart
Keith White

For Gap Inc., worker safety and well-being is paramount. We are pleased to continue our commitment to promoting safe, healthy working conditions for supply chain workers through our support for LABS.

Keith White

Executive Vice President of Loss Prevention & Global Sustainability at Gap Inc.
Bill Foudy

At Target, we believe in the value found by collaborating with other caompanies to create sustainable and systemic improvements. This includes supporting industry-aligned standards like those developed by the Life and Building Safety Initiative (LABS). Target is a proud founding member of LABS, aiming to improve worker safety in the apparel and footwear industries, and we would encourage others to join.

Bill Foudy

Senior Vice President ans President, Owned Brand Sourcing and Development, Target

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