Over 1,000 Bangladesh garment factories inspected

A union-brokered safety accord has seen garment factory inspections across Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Accord this week announced that initial inspections of factories covered by the accord had been completed by the September 2014 deadline. From the initial inspections of 1,106 garment factories in the country, the Accord’s inspectors identified more than 80,000 safety issues needing to be resolved.

A union-brokered safety accord has seen garment factory inspections across Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Accord says that initial inspections of factories covered by the accord had been completed by the September 2014 deadline.
From the initial inspections of 1,106 garment factories in the country, the Accord’s inspectors identified more than 80,000 safety issues needing to be resolved. “We have found safety hazards in all factories, which was to be expected. The safety findings have ranged from minor to significant. The Accord team is now working intensively with factory owners, brands, and labour colleagues to ensure the safety findings are corrected,” Brad Loewen, the Accord’s chief safety inspector said in a statement.
Jyrki Raina, general secretary of the global union IndustriALL that was, with sister global union UNI, instrumental in the creation of the accord, said: “Thanks to the inspections the repair work has already started – the journey towards a safe and sustainable garment industry in Bangladesh is well and truly under way. We will continue to organise the factories to build strong unions capable of securing workers’ rights.”
The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh came into being after the tragedy at Rana Plaza in April 2013, when a building collapse killed over 1,100 workers. The signatory brands have committed to support the Bangladeshi garment sector with continued sourcing commitments and support for remediation where needed.