Accord spots 80,000 hazards in garment factories

With completion of preliminary inspections of 1,700 factories by two foreign garment factory inspecting agencies, only three were shut -- a major step forward in garment-factory safety in Bangladesh.

Engineers of the European-sponsored Accord on Fire and Building Safety identified more than 80,000 safety problems in 1,106 factories as the platform formally announced closure of preliminary inspections yesterday.

Of the 1,106 factories inspected, over 400 corrective action plans (CAPs) have been finalised by the factories and company signatories, as well as being approved by Accord's chief safety inspector.

“We have found safety hazards in all factories, which was to be expected. The safety findings have ranged from minor to significant,” said Brad Loewen, chief safety inspector of the Accord.

“The Accord team is now working intensively with factory owners, brands, and labour colleagues, to ensure the safety findings are corrected. The CAPs are paramount to this, as they provide the remedial measures that must be taken to ensure an acceptably safe working environment,” Loewen said.

In 17 building inspections, the Accord found the structural integrity of the buildings fell below acceptable levels of safety.

This led the Accord to submit its inspection results to the review panel, appointed by the government, and recommend temporary evacuation of the buildings. But, at the end, only two factories were closed with recommendations by the Accord engineers.

Around 110 inspections found that immediate action was required to bring the factories above accepted safety levels for occupancy and production to continue. For other inspections, occupancy and production has continued while remediation measures were carried out, Accord said in a statement.

The Accord, a legally binding agreement between more than 186 global garment brands and retailers and global and Bangladeshi trade unions, started factory inspections on February 20 and completed it within the committed timeframe at the end of September.

“The signatories made an unprecedented commitment to support the Bangladeshi garments sector with continued sourcing commitments and support for remediation where needed,” Accord said.

“Since signing of the agreement in May 2013, good and real progress has been made,” Accord said.

“We welcome the continued commitment from global brands and retailers and local and global unions in supporting the remediation efforts in readymade garment supply chains in Bangladesh,” said Alan Roberts, executive director of international operations for Accord.

“The next phase of the Accord will focus on implementing and monitoring the corrective action plans and rolling out the training and worker participation programmes -- including establishing credible labour-management occupational safety and health committees at the factory level,” Roberts said.

Another inspection agency, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, also completed its inspection of 587 factories at the end of July and the review panel closed only one factory, recommended by its engineers.

The Accord did not inspect 300 factories as both inspecting bodies agreed to accept the inspection certification by each other to avoid repetition.

A total of 30 expert panels from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology have been inspecting nearly 2000 factories, which are not the members of the Accord and Alliance signatories.