The Life and Building Safety (LABS) Initiative is expanding into Indonesia. In consultation with Archetype, LABS initiated work to modify the LABS Standard and Methodology (the “Standard”) for Indonesia by considering the local legal requirements against which the apparel, footwear, and accessories factories will be measured on structural, fire, and electrical safety parameters.
Today, LABS organized a consulting workshop to discuss the first draft of the Standard with industry stakeholder groups including, but not limited to, government, apparel and footwear factories, trade associations, civil society organizations (CSOs), and brand partners.
The draft Standard was presented to the participants during the workshop; afterwards, panel discussions and group sessions were conducted to deliberate on the opportunities to provide a safer work environment. Input received will be incorporated into the final version of the LABS Standard and Methodology for Indonesia, which will be adhered during the pilot phase of the program.
LABS’ aim is to set a benchmark safety standard against which apparel and footwear factories are assessed. The LABS assessment is not a code-compliance check; however, it defines a required level of safety based on best practices internationally by considering the local context. All technical standards consist of an interrelated set of measures that should provide an acceptable level of safety in a building.
Through its associated firms, LABS has conducted over 400 safety assessments and delivered 650 safety trainings in apparel and footwear factories in India, Vietnam and Cambodia. LABS has also commenced identifying and onboarding associated firms to operationalize the program in Indonesia.