Ansell, a supplier of personal protective equipment, continues to play a leading role in ensuring the protection of workers vulnerable to forced labor in supply chains within the medical supplies industry. On March 1, 2022, the newly formed Responsible Glove Alliance (RGA) announced its launch, with Ansell one of seven founding members.
The RGA will initially focus its efforts on the Malaysian rubber glove manufacturing industry. Malaysia is the world’s largest producer of this product, and the industry relies heavily on migrant labor. The RGA will work to identify, remediate and prevent the conditions giving rise to forced labor through recruitment transformation, collective influence, and the application of due diligence with advanced standards, tools and programs through the application of international standards and due diligence approaches aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP). Working in a pre-competitive, collaborative environment allows for consistent application of these standards in a more expedient and effective manner.
“We recognize that many labor rights challenges, particularly those facing the medical products and medical use glove industry, cannot be solved by any one company working alone,” said Neil Salmon, Managing Director and CEO at Ansell. “Therefore, Ansell is pleased to be a founding member of this new organization that will bring an aligned cross-industry focus to this pressing issue. We are confident that the shared ambitions and collective approach of the RGA and its members will bring significant improvement to conditions for workers in the glove industry supply chain.”
