Bangladesh safety groups publish annual reports
25/07/2014
European companies, including H&M, Inditex, Mango, Marks & Spencer, G-Star and Esprit, drew up the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh following the fatal fire at a garment factory on the Rana Plaza complex in April 2013. A little later, prominent North American retailers, including VF Corporation, owner of brands such as The North Face, Timberland and Vans, as well as Wal-Mart, Gap, Target, JC Penney and Macy’s, unveiled their own plan, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety.
The Alliance said it had met its goals for year one and achieved “remarkable progress”, inspecting more than 500 factories, developing worker empowerment initiatives and made major financial investments to support factory improvements.
For its part, the Accord said independent pilot inspections of a first batch of 10 factories supplying garments to its members took place in November 2013. Since February 2014 inspection teams have been in the field inspecting more than 50 factories per week. It also reported that, from an initial 25 signatories in May 2013, more than 180 global brands and retailers have now signed the Accord, representing over 1,500 garment factories and in excess of 2 million workers in Bangladesh.
However, the Accord said it had found it necessary to ask its members for extra funding. It brought in $5.3 million in membership fees in 2013, but expects to incur much heavier inspection costs this year. It expect to have recovered any deficit by May 2015.
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