Gildan Activewear Inc., parent of Gildan, Gold Toe and Anvil, (GIL.TO)(GIL.TO) announced it has released the 2014 update of the company's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) website, genuinegildan.com, following the GRI-G4 guidelines. Included in the update are the company's CSR achievements for 2014 and progress for each one of its targets.

Throughout the year, the company has continued to develop and implement industry-leading practices with respect to working conditions, environmental footprint, community support and responsibly-made product offerings.

“Gildan's CSR programs and initiatives are central to the company's overall business strategy,” said Glenn Chamandy, president and CEO. “We remain committed to investing in our vertical integration and the implementation of best-in-class practices across the whole organization. Our growth and continued success rely upon driving continuous improvements in our operations and empowering our employees.”

Employees

Gildan aims to maintain ethical, safe and stimulating working conditions for all of its over 42,000 employees. Globally, the company created over 8,000 jobs in 2014 to support its growth strategy, while it offered close to 1 million man-hours of training to its employees. Gildan's fully equipped medical clinics provided more than 87,000 instances of medical attention free of charge to employees within its manufacturing facilities. In 2014, a total of 244 internal and external audits were performed at the company's owned facilities and at third-party contractor facilities, in support of Gildan's commitment to the highest standards of labour practices and working conditions. As part of the continuous improvement of the company's social compliance program, and with the objective of driving best practices in the industry, Gildan also began the process of auditing key raw material suppliers.

Environment

As one of the world's largest manufacturers of basic apparel, Gildan upholds a strong sense of environmental responsibility. The company is committed to developing innovative environmental solutions with the expressed objective to reduce our environmental footprint. In 2014, 53 percent of Gildan's total energy was powered by renewable sources and the company repurposed or recycled more than 90 percent of the waste from its operations. Gildan has surpassed, ahead of schedule, some of the environmental targets it had set for 2015. For example the company established a 20 percent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity reduction target by 2015, using 2010 as a base year. In 2014 Gildan had already achieved a 45 percent reduction in GHG emissions intensity.

Community

Gildan continued to play an active role in the community through its contributions and involvement, investing in educational activities and infrastructure, with a focus on the regions in which it operates. For example, the company invested in the EDUCANDO program in the Dominican Republic, which supported elementary school activities to recognize students' academic excellence and also made a significant investment for renovations at two schools in Choloma, Honduras to provide improved environments for students.

Products

In 2014, Gildan completed a company-wide life cycle assessment and conducted product life cycle assessments for 24 products. The assessments were completed taking into consideration three years of data, allowing for better comparison and benchmarking. The company was pleased to report that over the three-year assessment period, the manufacturing phase of the life cycle decreased its footprint for the climate change and resources indicators due primarily to the implementation of biomass steam generation at the Rio Nance complex facilities.

GRI-G4

For social and environmental responsibility professionals, the information in this website has been structured in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Guidelines – “Comprehensive”. Gildan has presented its reporting for 2014 to the GRI Materiality Disclosures Service and received the confirmation that, at the time of publication of the G4 Guidelines-based report, General Standard Disclosure G4-17 to G4-27 were correctly located in both the Content Index and in the text of the final report.