One-third of identified 1800 factories mend safety faults

Over a decade gone by since the disastrous Rana plaza collapse, 665 out of 1800 listed garment factories in Bangladesh have so far completed initially identified fire-, electrical-and structural-safety hazards, sources say.

The coordinated factory- safety programme in the country's export industry was launched immediately after the big-hulk commercial building imploded in 2013.

As a reckoning begins with requiem on another anniversary of the tragedy, industry leaders cite the shortage of manpower, slow progress in follow-up inspections and inclusion of boiler safety and new findings in the to-do list of the monitoring agency-RSC or RMG Sustainability Council-which took over the initiative.

The initiative was initiated by a European coalition of brands and buyers known as Accord aiming to improve workplace safety through inspection and remediation. Another western band, nicknamed Alliance, from North America joined the upgrade drive.

On the other hand, RSC blames the progress variations on funding, factory-management willingness, constant flow of new factories, and competence factors of consultants.

The largest industrial accident took place on April 24, 2013 that killed more than 1100 workers and injured hundreds more.

The incident drew huge criticism from all arenas-local and global--over poor working conditions. In response, more than 200 EU-based apparel brands and buyers like H&M, Bestseller and Tesco--and global trade unions-IndustriAll Global Union, UNI Global Union and Clean Clothes Campaign--formed the Accord on fire-and building safety in Bangladesh.

Some 3,500 factories were inspected through three initiatives-Accord 1800, Alliance 600 and a joint ILO-government-led national initiative the rest 1500. These are registered with owners' associations BGMEA and BKMEA.

There are additional 800 to 1000 factories that are not associated with either of the two trade bodies--and were not inspected under any of the three initiatives.

Alliance in 2018 handed over its inspected factories after 90-percent completion of the corrective action plan (CAP) to the national initiative and wound up its activities. A remediation coordination cell was formed for looking after the national-initiative factories majority of which, according to insiders, were closed for various reasons.

Meantime, on June 01, 2020, the functions of the Accord Office in Bangladesh transitioned to the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC)--and the latter inherited all operations, staff, infrastructure, and functions of the Accord. The Council continues with factory inspection, remediation, and workplace programme.

During the initial inspections, some 93,576 safety hazards were identified in 1,755 factories while another 58,367 flaws identified in the follow-up inspections, as of December 2025, according to the remediation-progress report placed by the RSC.

Also, 2531 boilers out of 3,359 in 835 factories out of 1,343 units have been inspected, with 302 boilers in critical findings.

Verification of completion of boilers with critical findings started in June 2025, according to the report.

The Council temporarily shut down 24-percent boilers for remediation while 14 per cent were permanently closed.

Buyers, through the Accord, carried out inspection and bore the costs while factory owners who are on the advisory committee of the Accord are responsible for carrying out the remediation works with own investments.

The RSC board of directors includes six representatives each from buyers, factory owners and trade unions-local and global-- and its operational costs are equally borne by both buyers and factory owners.

Talking to the FE, Mohammad Hatem, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), alleges that the RSC has shortage of manpower that keeps factories waiting for months for re-visit despite requests from factories for the follow-up inspections.

"Also, the inspectors added new findings even after five audits done," he says, adding that recently the RSC board decided that no new findings could be added after three inspections.

Mr. Hatem, also a board member of the RSC, cites an example and says his factory is yet to get the completion-recognition letter from the RSC though it has rectified 96 per cent of the initially identified safety flaws in 2016.

He claims the rest 4.0-percent are 'illogical', explaining that the Council is strict for installing sprinkler system as the building height is 77 feet above the approved 75 feet.

He also claims that he has invested $96000 in installing pump but has not get approval as it added new findings to install negative succession pump.

Also, they have advised installing fire door in front of the lift, which is "unnecessary".

The BKMEA leader laments that one of the largest knitwear- manufacturing groups did not get work orders from its buyer for more than a year for non-completion of audits.

munni_fe@yahoo.com