Two years ago, in May 2013, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in
Bangladesh was founded. Membership trickled in at first but after a few big
(European) brands took the plunge, others followed suit. Today, the Accord
includes more than 200 company signatories and over 1500 factories. It is a
five-year, legally binding agreement between brands and trade unions to
“enable a safe working environment in the Bangladesh garment industry”.

One of its major achievements is an independent inspections program
enabled by the brands that involves workers and trade unions as well. To
date, all 1500-plus factories covered under the Accord have been inspected
for fire, electrical and structural safety and many safety issues have been
identified. “Fixing all these hazards is a massive amount of work for the
RMG industry, but safety remediation work at the inspected factories is
underway,” said Brad Loewen, the Accord’s chief safety inspector.

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Factory inspections have already helped save lives

Especially faulty wiring and exposed electrical lines, aided by a humid
climate, posed a threat in many factories, and fires in factories used to
be frequent occurrences. “There has been especially good progress on
electrical remediation which is positive as most factory fires are caused
by electrical hazards. As a result, we have helped prevent fires in
factories covered by the Accord,” reported Loewen.

The Accord has also put together a reporting system of transparent
publications of all inspection reports, which can be accessed online.
Corrective action plans are the results of the inspection reports. To
ensure that lack of funds should not come in the way of effective
remediation, a commitment has been given by the industry to financially
supporting remediation wherever necessary.

On the worker level, the Accord has invested in an extensive training
and empowerment program. In addition, health and safety committees have
been installed in all Accord factories.

“Good progress has been made, more needs to be done,” an Accord
statement sums up the previous two years. The time remaining will pass soon
and all entities involved will need to make sure that the Accord’s efforts
will last beyond the stipulated five years.

“In the three remaining years of the Accord we will work with our
signatories and suppliers to complete the remediation at all factories and
ensure that a functioning safety and health committee capable of
maintaining and monitoring safety issues on a day-to day basis is in place
at every Accord listed factory. This requires a concerted effort from the
factories with support from the Accord signatory companies and Accord union
colleagues. The Accord team stands ready to support all parties if we hit
obstacles in this road ahead,” confirmed the Accord’s executive director
Rob Wayss.