What does a BSCI audit mean?
BSCI stands for Business Social Compliance Initiative, a programme run by amfori, a Brussels-based association of retailers and brands. A BSCI audit assesses a factory against 13 performance areas of labour and ethics, and the auditor issues a grade from A to E.
The audit is not a certificate. A body issues a certificate when a product or a system meets a standard and holds a licence. A BSCI audit is a report on observed conditions, written by an accredited auditing company, and the factory holds a rating, not a certification. Buyers who describe a supplier as "BSCI certified" are using an informal phrase for a supplier holding a valid audit report.
The 13 performance areas are social management system, workers' involvement and protection, freedom of association and collective bargaining, no discrimination, fair remuneration, decent working hours, occupational health and safety, no child labour, special protection for young workers, no precarious employment, no bonded labour, protection of the environment, and ethical business behaviour. Each area is scored from the documents the auditor reviews, the workers interviewed and the premises walked.
How does BSCI grading work?
BSCI grades range from A (outstanding) through B (good), C (acceptable), D (insufficient) to E (unacceptable). A and B reports stay valid for 24 months, and C reports for 12 months. Zero-tolerance findings, such as child labour, override the other scores.
| Grade | Description | Report validity | Follow-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Outstanding | 24 months | Next full audit at expiry |
| B | Good | 24 months | Next full audit at expiry |
| C | Acceptable | 12 months | Corrective action plan and re-audit |
| D | Insufficient | No extended validity | Corrective action plan and follow-up audit |
| E | Unacceptable | No extended validity | Immediate action and follow-up audit |
A zero-tolerance finding is a violation that triggers the lowest grade regardless of other scores: child labour, bonded or forced labour, or a severe health and safety hazard. The grade comes from the findings across all 13 areas, weighted by severity. Validity periods and grade thresholds are amfori rules that change with each version of the system, so a buyer confirms the current rules on the amfori platform.
Audits are announced to the factory in the standard format, and unannounced audits are available and used by some brands. A supplier identification and vetting process reads the report in full rather than the headline grade, since the findings under each area show where the weakness lies.
What does a social audit examine on a factory floor?
A social audit examines five evidence types: document review of payroll, hours and contracts, a physical walk-through, worker interviews, management interviews and a review of fire and building safety records. Auditors cross-check the sources against each other.
Audit duration scales with headcount, measured in auditor-days. The sample of workers interviewed follows a formula tied to total headcount, selected by the auditor and not by management, and interviews are private.
The documents tested include payroll records against the legal minimum wage, time records against overtime limits, personnel files for age verification, and fire drill and training logs. Bangladesh sets the garment-sector minimum wage at 12,500 taka per month since December 2023, and the auditor compares payroll against it. The walk-through checks exits, fire extinguishers, machine guards, ventilation, canteen and toilets.
Building and fire safety in Bangladesh runs under a separate system: the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC), the successor to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety, inspects member factories for structural, electrical and fire hazards. A buyer sourcing from Bangladesh checks RSC status next to the social audit.
What is SMETA, and how does it differ from BSCI?
SMETA stands for Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit. It is a methodology, not a standard, built on the ETI Base Code, and it reports non-conformances without assigning a grade. SMETA is available in a 2-pillar and a 4-pillar version.
The 4 pillars are labour standards, health and safety, environment, and business ethics. The 2-pillar audit covers the first two. Results are uploaded to Sedex, an online platform on which suppliers share reports with multiple buyers, and the audit is accepted by any Sedex member buyer.
| Feature | BSCI | SMETA |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | amfori | Sedex |
| Basis | amfori Code of Conduct | ETI Base Code |
| Output | Grade A to E | List of non-conformances, no grade |
| Platform | amfori | Sedex |
| Scope | 13 performance areas | 2 or 4 pillars |
The two systems measure overlapping subjects with different scoring. A factory holding a BSCI report has no SMETA report, and a buyer requiring one system does not accept the other automatically. Both are third-party audits, performed by auditing companies approved by the owner. Bangladeshi factories hold both when their buyers require both systems.
What separates an audit result from genuine ongoing compliance?
An audit result records conditions on the audit days. Ongoing compliance is the standard maintained between audits, which is tested by unannounced visits, worker grievance channels and corrective-action closure. A valid report does not measure the other 363 days.
A corrective action plan lists each finding, the action, the owner and the closing date. The measure of a factory is the closure rate of its previous findings, since a factory that fixes 90 percent of findings within the agreed period maintains conditions between audits. Recurring findings on working hours or overtime across consecutive reports indicate a systemic issue.
Buyers check four items: the date of the report against the current date, the scope (whether the audited site is the site where the order is produced), subcontracting (whether the audit covers the subcontractors used), and the corrective action closure status. A report for a different building or a different company name does not apply to the order.
Where do BSCI and SMETA audits fit when sourcing from Bangladesh?
Bangladeshi export factories commonly hold BSCI or SMETA reports because European and UK retailers require them for listing. Which report covers which site is stated per factory, and a buyer asks for the audit date, grade or findings summary, and scope before an order. Buyers who visit our Dhaka showroom arrange to walk a production site and read the current report together with its corrective action log.
Audit status is confirmed per site, with the report date and scope. The guides on OEKO-TEX Standard 100 cover the separate question of product chemical safety, which no social audit tests.