A recent update indicates that significant progress has been made in the past year in improving factory safety since the establishment of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (Alliance), the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (Accord) and the Government of Bangladesh-run inspection programs.
More work remains, including building local capacity, giving workers a stronger voice, ensuring thorough remediation, and reducing the cost and burden on workers and factories alike as they implement safety improvements.
Alliance Chair Ellen Tauscher noted, “As we announced in July of this year, the Alliance completed its first round of fire, electrical and structural safety inspections in nearly 600 factories—representing 100 percent of the factories from which Alliance Member brands source. The majority of these inspections were carried out by one of seven Qualified Audit Firms operating in Bangladesh that have been retained and overseen by Alliance staff. We publish the results of these inspection reports on our website on a rolling basis.
“A minority of these inspections began prior to alignment on a harmonized safety Standard by firms retained by a small number of Member Brands, and included follow-up visits to gather additional data or validate findings by one of the seven approved Alliance firms to ensure that the report was in keeping with the Alliance equivalency requirements.The Alliance continues to demonstrate progress and achieve new milestones.”
More than One Million Workers Receive Safety Training
Tauscher remarked that in addition to completing its first round of inspections, in its first year of operation, they have trained more than one million workers in safety, taken the lead in executing joint initiatives like the International Expo on Building and Fire Safety, piloted a confidential worker helpline and begun remediation in 50 percent of its factories.
“We also are committed to providing compensation to workers displaced by factory remediation efforts, including support for lost wages for up to four months in partnership with the factory. All of these activities are detailed in our annual report, which can be found on the Alliance website: www.bangladeshworkersafety.org.
“Increasing thoughtful and respectful collaboration between the Alliance, the Accord, and the Government of Bangladesh is critical to creating a more effective inspection process and building much-needed capacity within the Bangladesh government, which will be responsible for ensuring factory safety long after our five-year efforts draw to a close. We continue to invite the Accord to partner on accepting inspections and in other areas like our worker training programs and creating a joint advisory board. We believe that working together allows us to achieve our common long-term goals: permanent transformation and improvement of the entire Bangladesh garment industry,” Tauscher added.
Author Kori Shafer-Stack, Editor, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in post-injury response procedures and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: kstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
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