Oxfam Australia is calling on the Just Group to ban sandblasting on its jean due to health issues.

Ahead of Just Jeans and Dotti’s runway show in Melbourne this Sunday, Oxfam Australia called on Just Group chief executive Mark McInnes to ban the use of sandblasting on its jeans.

Oxfam Australia, in a statement, said sandblasting is a "dangerous practice" and the jeans manufacturer should immediately stop the practice.

Oxfam said sandblasting is known to cause silicosis — a pulmonary disease caused by the inhalation of silica dust, which has caused dozens of fatalities and seen as causing debilitating illnesses on denim workers.

Just Jeans and Misleading Ads

Just Group owns several brands that sell denim products, including Jay Jays, Dotti, Portmans and Jacquie E.

Oxfam Australia said it first contacted Just Group in February this year asking for clarification around Just Jeans and Jay Jays products that were advertised as sandblasted, and warned the company about serious health risks to workers.

Since then, more than 500 consumers have written to Just Group outlining their concern for workers and calling on the company to ban sandblasting.

On August 3, Oxfam Australia said Just Jeans issued a statement on Facebook that they did not use sandblasting. Yet, several Just Jeans products are still being advertised on the Just Jeans website as ‘sandblasted denim’.

"We welcome this statement by Just Jeans but remain concerned that products are still being marketed as sandblasted. If this is the case, consumers are being misled," Oxfam Australia Executive Director Andrew Hewett said.

ACCC Move

"After trying to engage constructively with Just Group for the past six months, Oxfam feels it is now compelled to refer this matter to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) if the company does not take action in the next ten days," Oxfam Australia said.
Hewett said Just Group brands were listed as buyers at Union Win factories in China. These same Union Win factories produce sandblasted denim products.

Benetton, Levis, Esprit, Gucci Say No to Sandblasting

He said Just Group was out of step with many major companies that had already publicly banned sandblasting, including Benetton, Levi Strauss, Gucci and Esprit.

Some of these companies are making good progress towards fully implementing the ban—hiring health and safety specialists, providing health checks for workers and changing product designs.

Oxfam is calling on Just Group to release names and locations of its supplier factories so that workers’ conditions and practices can be independently verified.
Last year, Levi Strauss & Co. banned sandblasting due to health concerns.

"Even though we at Levi Strauss & Co. are confident in our practices, we’ve decided that the best way we can help ensure no worker – in any garment factory – faces this risk is to move to end sandblasting," the company said.

"At Levi Strauss & Co., we’ve put in place some of the strictest standards and monitoring programs in the industry to ensure that workers who produce our jeans are not subjected to the risks related to silica," Levi’s said.

"But we recognize that there are factories – often linked to counterfeit operations – that do not apply these same safeguards. And because they don’t rigorously enforce proper health and safety standards for sandblasting, they put unsuspecting workers at risk," Levi's, one of the world's famous jeans company said.