Inspections on hundreds of small and medium-sized garment and textile factories in Vietnam will be carried out soon. The aim is to improve safety and working conditions in the sector. Another goal is to improve the knowledge and skills of labor inspectors.

Over the next five months, around 160 firms will be inspected across 12 provinces. The campaign will take place across a readymade garment sector that employs around 2.5 million workers. The companies that will be inspected will mainly be small and medium-sized enterprises, outsourcing companies, those that have no direct relationship with exporters.

Inspectors will be trained on how to plan, implement and evaluate the campaigns so that similar initiatives can be carried out in future. A risk mapping exercise was carried out in 2014. Around 25 companies in the readymade garment sector were visited by inspectors trained in standard procedures. The finding then was that there were significant risks of non-compliance in the sector and identified the main causes as poor understanding of the law and a failure to grasp the benefits of compliance.

Vietnam is a strong garment sourcing destination. Gamrents making industry is one of the most important in Vietnam, accounting for 13.6 per cent of the country's export turnover and 10.5 per cent of the country's GDP.