Inspectors of major global brands on Tuesday released the first report identifying the weaknesses of garment factories with recommendations for creating safe working conditions for workers.
The report based on the inspection of 10 factories was released at a press conference at Hotel La-Vinci in the city. They carried out the inspection under the “Accord for Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh” which was signed on 13 May 2013, in response to the Rana Plaza factory building collapse on 24 April 2013, which resulted in the deaths of 1,133 workers.
Inspection in the reported factories found safety problems including overloaded ceilings, exposed cables and locked fire escapes.
The reports identified a number of issues need to be addressed and also explained the steps need to be taken to resolve those, some of which are already underway.
Issues identified include the need to reduce weight loads in certain areas of the factory through moving material, stock, or supplies; the requirement for better support for and enclosure of electrical cables; and the need to improve maintenance procedures around items such as electrical circuits, for example keeping them free of dust. Brad Loewen, chief safety inspector of Bangladesh Accord while releasing the report said, “We have completed inspection in 10 garment factories and identified some major problems. The problems include overloaded ceilings and exposed and weak wiring as well as inadequate fire exits.”
He said, two factories had been temporarily closed in the last week after serious structural issues were uncovered, although work was allowed to continue after overloading was reduced.
“We have been getting great cooperation,” Loewen told.
The report contains an unprecedented level of detail and sets a new standard in transparency and credibility. It provides the necessary measures for the continuous work to make the Bangladesh garment industry safe and sustainable.
The reports set out details of the current building safety standards in the first garment factories to be inspected, and identify necessary steps required to improve these standards.
“The detailed reports are designed to help owners and workers alike. They are the first of their kind and will improve a worker’s ability to be informed about safety at their workplace.”
More than 150 global brands and retailers from 20 countries in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia have signed the legally binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh with IndustriALL Global Union and UNI Global Union. International NGOs, including Clean Clothes Campaign and Workers’ Rights Consortium are witness signatories to the Accord. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) acts as the independent chair.
Working conditions in the $22 billion industry have been under scrutiny since April, 2013 collapse of Rana Plaza.
Rana Plaza tragedy, the world’s most deadly industrial accident since the 1984 Bhopal disaster in India, has prompted Western brands to pledge to cooperate to improve working conditions, but inspections of Bangladesh’s 5,600 factories have been slow to get under way.
Four contracted engineering firms and 25 staff engineers plan to inspect the 1,500 factories used by the Accord brands by the end of August, starting with the highest-risk buildings with more than five floors.
Factories are given two weeks notice of an inspection, which monitors structural, fire and electrical safety.
The separate Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, dominated by North American retailers like Gap and Wal-Mart Stores, said in October it had inspected more than half the Bangladesh factories its members use.
Proponents of the Accord say it is stronger than the Alliance as it requires independent inspections of work sites, binding arbitration enforceable in court in case of a dispute, and full disclosure of all suppliers, inspection reports and detailed quarterly reports.
Bangladesh has pledged to boost worker rights and recruit more safety inspectors after the European Union, which gives preferential access to Bangladeshi garments, threatened punitive measures. But the country has fewer than 200 qualified inspectors and government officials say it will take at least five years to check all factories.
