Apple trained 17.3 mn supplier employees in workplace rights in 2018

Apple trained 17.3 million supplier employees in workplace rights and 3.6 million received advanced education and skills training globally in 2018, the company said on Wednesday.

All final assembly sites for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods and HomePod are now certified Zero Waste to Landfill, while conserving billions of gallons of water and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Apple said in its 13th annual "Supplier Responsibility Progress Report".

"Our commitment to the people who make our products possible and the planet we all share is why, every year, we raise the bar for ourselves and our suppliers," said Jeff Williams, Apple's Chief Operating Officer.

Apple conducted 770 assessments of facilities in more than 30 countries in 2018, covering 93 per cent of the company's supplier spend.

The Cupertino-based iPhone maker added career-building courses for supplier employees that included App Development with Swift. The programme's first participants created more than 40 apps ranging from workplace tools to gaming.

"Last year, more than 1,500 employees at our suppliers earned a college degree, adding to the thousands who have taken advantage of education programming which expands every year," informed the company.

In 2017, Apple introduced a special health programme for women with suppliers in India and China.

In the programme, participants learn about nutritional, maternal, and preventive healthcare and are encouraged to share what they learn with their co-workers, families and friends.

In India, Apple's partner Wistron Corporation is manufacturing iPhones at its facility in Bengaluru.

Apple aims to bring health awareness programming to one million people at suppliers around the world by 2020.

"In prioritising Zero Waste to Landfill, Apple suppliers have diverted one million tonnes of garbage in just three years. Apple's clean water programme expanded to 116 suppliers, resulting in 7.6 billion gallons of water saved in 2018 - one gallon for every person on the planet," informed the company.

The company also worked with suppliers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 466,000 annualised metric tonne, which is equivalent to taking 100,000 cars off the road in one year.

--IANS

na/nir