MADE emphasises workplace safety, through a variety of methods and approaches, including technical evaluations, and training which involves workers in creating a safety culture in the workplace.  

Staff of MADE/SMART Factories Programme provide their business cards to workers participating in interviews and focus groups and encourage them to get in contact if they experience any problems related to participation in the programme.   In reality, this has rarely, if at all, been the case for workers in the hundreds of factories with whom SMART has previously engaged.   Indeed, participation usually empowers workers to raise issues with management and secure improved conditions, through better access to, and understanding of, their legal entitlements.  

A more systematic grievance hotline will be established for the MADE project, to include the Factories Programme. Retailers participating in MADE must commit to ensure the safety of complainants within their supply chain. 

The SMART Factories component of MADE improves working conditions in garment factories through a combination of assessment, advisory, and training services. One way that SMART Factories improves social compliance in factories is by conducting assessments to identify areas where factories are not meeting local and international labour standards. The assessments cover areas such as wages and benefits, working hours, occupational health and safety, and freedom of association. The findings from the assessments are shared with factory management, workers, and other stakeholders, and used to develop action plans to address the identified issues. SMART Factories also provides advisory services to factories to help them implement the action plans and improve their social compliance performance. 

Another way that SMART Factories improves social compliance in factories is by providing training and capacity building to workers, factory management, and other stakeholders. The training covers topics such as labour laws and regulations, workers' rights, workplace safety, and environmental sustainability. SMART Factories also works with factory management to develop policies and procedures to address social compliance issues and helps them to implement these policies effectively. The training and capacity building programs aim to create a culture of continuous improvement in factories, where workers and management are empowered to identify and address social compliance issues proactively. 

Full-time technical experts in the SMART Factories programme are experienced and qualified factory assessors and engineers, with strong technical knowledge in their subject areas.  

MADE promotes full conformance with the Globally Harmonized System for chemical management, conformance with the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals protocol, education about HiGG FEM requirements, a phase-out of coal boiler fuel in favor of solar thermal, biomass waste products (such as rice husks and wood scrap) and, in general, resource efficient, waste-minimizing factory production systems. 

Alliance Member Companies commit to achieve full compliance among suppliers with the globally harmonized system (GHS) for chemical inventory management and labelling by 31 December 2023. (GHS compliance is a legal requirement in Myanmar under the 2013 Chemical and Related Substances Act. Factories with substantial chemical storerooms are generally required to be compliant with storage, labelling and safe use requirements). 

Furthermore, the climate crisis requires strong action to phase down carbon emissions.  Alliance members commit to work towards a complete phase out of coal boiler fuel in Myanmar by 31 December 2025, including in the suppliers used by Member Companies.  

The MADE project employs several technical staff (electrical engineers, textile engineers, chemical management specialists) focused on safe and efficient chemical management, energy efficiency, promotion of renewable energy solutions (solar PV, biomass, solar thermal, etc.), water efficiency and solid waste management. 

An added benefit of technical work on energy efficiency and chemical management is expert capacity within the project for technical safety evaluations of boiler and steam systems, electrical systems, ventilation systems, chemical storeroom management practices and compressed air systems, among other areas. The project’s engineers often discover and work to remediate major safety issues in factories receiving energy audits and chemical management assessments. Many such safety issues are not observed by typical social compliance auditors, as they require more specialized equipment used by project engineers, including data loggers, thermal imaging cameras, Volatile Organic Compound spectrometers (VOC meters) and more. 

Retailers wishing to join the MADE Alliance, which gives access to priority placement for their supplier factories within the project’s various programmes and workshops, are required to sign an MoU.  This outlines joint commitments of the parties. Retailers are also expected to financially contribute to the project in a manner consistent with their production volumes in Myanmar, to supplement the EU’s contribution to the programme. 

Enrollment is open to all retailers willing to make the commitments outlined within the project’s MoU. Retailers signing earlier will receive support for their suppliers on a first-come, first-serve basis. Those signing later in the year are very likely to be waitlisted until additional technical experts can be adequately developed and/or contracted. 

Factories supplying non-member retailers can participate in some modules of the project, but priority placement is given to factories supplying members of MADE.