Bangladesh Fire And Safety Accord

[Urbano Bozman]

TheAccord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (the Accord) was signed on 15 May 2013. It is a five-year independent, legally binding Global Framework Agreement between global brands, retailers, and trade unions designed to build a safe and healthy Bangladeshi Ready Made Garment (RMG) Industry. The agreement was created in the immediate aftermath of the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh that resulted in the death of more than 1100 people and injured more than 2000. In June 2013, an implementation plan was agreed leading to the incorporation of the Bangladesh Accord Foundation in the Netherlands in October 2013.

In addition to schemes of building inspection and enforcement of fire and safety standards, the accord requires that contracts by international retailers with Bangladesh manufacturers provide for compensation adequate to maintain safe buildings. Retailers agree to continue to support the Bangladesh textile industry despite possible higher costs. It is estimated that the total cost may be $1 billion, about $500,000 per factory.[1] Close co-operation with the International Labour Organization and the government of Bangladesh is required. A steering committee which governs the accord is established as are dispute resolution procedures such as arbitration. The accord calls for development of an Implementation Plan over 45 days.[2]

The German government sponsored a meeting of retailers and NGOs at the beginning of May, and the meeting set a deadline of midnight of 16 May 2013 to sign up to the agreement.[5] Working with the Clean Clothes Campaign, Worker Rights Consortium, International Labor Rights Forum, and the Maquila Solidarity Network, the GIZ agency and IndustriALL (a global union federation) began forming a program that needed to meet the needs of trade union and NGO representatives. The main objectives of this program were a foundation for the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, specifically focusing on fire safety following the Rana Plaza factory collapse. Based on the previously submitted proposals for safety, the Accord was issued on 5 May 2013, and an official announcement of intention to sign was given by H&M on 13 May 2013. H&M signing of the Accord was a key step in encouraging other companies to declare their intent to sign as well. Numerous companies had signed up by the deadline, covering over 1,000 Bangladeshi garment factories.[6]

Since 29 October 2013, the Accord has been signed by over 200 apparel brands, retailers and importers from over 20 countries in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia; two global trade unions; and eight Bangladesh trade unions and four NGO witnesses.[7][8] Some of the notable companies are listed below. For a complete list see the Bangladesh Accord website.[9]

Most North American retailers did not sign the accord. Companies like Gap Inc. and Walmart cited liability concerns. According to spokespersons for the retail industry, American courts, which allow class actions, contingent fees, and do not require losing plaintiffs to pay legal fees, might permit liability claims against retailers in the event of another disaster which might result in substantial enforceable judgments, in contrast to European courts which generally do not allow class actions, forbid contingent fees, and require losing plaintiffs to pay winning defendants' legal fees and costs. However, as John C. Coffee, professor of corporate law at Columbia Law School, pointed out, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. might apply thus foreclosing suits by Bangladesh workers under the Alien Tort Claims Act, but this seems unlikely.[1] It is more likely that liability would be based on contract law.

On 10 July 2013, a group of 17 major North American retailers calling themselves the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety announced the Bangladesh Worker Safety Initiative. The Initiative drew criticism from labour groups who complained that it was less stringent than the Accord and lacked legally binding commitments to pay for improvements.[10]

There were a significant number of accomplishments under the 2013 Accord, those of which included large scale hazard identification and remediation of these safety issues. Engineers inspected more than 2000 RMG factories where they identified more than 150,000 safety hazards.[11] Additionally, companies committed to negotiating terms with their suppliers such that it was possible for the factories to maintain and uphold a safe workplace environment along with maintaining the safety remediation requirements. There was also a Safety Training Program initiative where 1.4 million workers in Accord-covered factories were educated and informed about proper workplace safety and evacuation drills, along with the rights that they had under the Accord. Anything that was not effectively handled at the factory level, such as individual worker complaints, were processed through Safety and Health Complaints Mechanism, which allowed them to remedy these concerns. By the end of the 2013 Accord, 200 worker complaints had been effectively handed through this program.[11]

As of September 2019[update], there has been a 90% initial remediation progress rate at Accord-covered factories. 254 factories have completed the initial remediation and there has been over 90% initial remediation at 1,120 factories.

The 2018 Transition Key Accord was signed on 1 July 2018, in order to fulfill the same purposes as the 2013 Accord as well as maintaining the progress previously made. It is also a legally binding agreement between brands and trade unions and some of the key features include brand commitment to ensure safety remediation is completed and financially feasible, independent safety inspections and remediation program. There will also be disclosure of inspection reports and corrective action plans. Other key features of the accord include: a Safety Committee and Training Program, Safety and Health Complaints Mechanism, protection of right to refuse unsafe work, along with the transition of the Accord functions to a larger national safety monitoring body.

The Accord is governed by a Steering Committee that consists of representatives from the signatory companies and trade unions along with a neutral chair from the International Labor Organization (ILO).

One of the key features of the 2018 Accord is that it has pledged to hand over its functions to the Bangladesh government's Remediation and Coordination Cell (RCC), a unit of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments. The 2018 Accord pledges support for the RCC until it fully takes over the Accord functions.

The Bangladesh garment industry has a long history of deadly factory incidents. After the tragic Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013, The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh was established, and huge progress has been made since. In 2023, the Accord also started work in Pakistan, and the door is open for expansion to other countries.

Many garment brands have their clothes made in factories in Bangladesh. Before the Rana Plaza collapse in April 2013, which killed 1,138 workers, a lot of these factories were no more than death traps. The Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety was established shortly after and has done important work improving factory safety for 2 million garment workers in Bangladesh. This progress however needs to be protected.

The Accord is so successful because it is a binding agreement that has real punishments for brands, retailers, and factories who do not take enough action. Unions take up half of the seats in the Accord's governance structures and can hold brands accountable. The original Accord ran for five years, and the follow-up Accords ran for respectively three and two years. The current International Accord will run for six years. Each time we had to campaign hard to convince brands that they need to continue their commitment to factory safety.

It's paramount to ensure that all brands sign on to the International Accord. Not doing so means willingly putting workers' lives at risk. It is also vital to ensure that the process to expand the Accord to other countries moves swiftly. Workers can no longer wait for safe factories. Brands have the power to make real changes in their supply chain, they just need to feel the right pressure from all of us to start moving.

All brands sourcing from Bangladesh and Pakistan must sign the International Accord and the respective country programmes to make sure workers in their supply chain don't have to risk their lives in unsafe factories.

When in 2013 the Rana Plaza building collapsed - killing 1,138 workers - it was clear that something needed to change to address the notoriously unsafe Bangladesh garment industry. Only a few weeks later the Bangladesh Safety Accord was launched. In the past few years, the Accord has carried out inspections, overseen repairs and trained workers in the field of safety covering over 1,600 factories supplying more than 200 brands.

The Accord is a binding instrument initiated by Bangladeshi trade unions and Global Union Federations together with labour rights groups. The first Accord, which had a mandate for five years, has been signed by over 200 global fashion brands and retailers, Bangladeshi trade unions and Global Union Federations. Clean Clothes Campaign is one of the four witness signatories. The ILO (International Labour Organisation) functions as neutral chair.

The Accord requires the signatory brands to disclose who their supplier factories are. The Accord also requires independent building inspections on fire, electrical and structural safety, worker rights trainings, and a long-overdue review of safety standards.

Fashion brands, together with their supplier factory, are responsible to compensate the workers during any closure for remediation and maintenance resulting from the inspections. The inspections are carried out by safety inspectors from international firms, and Bangladesh engineers. The Accord is unique in being supported by all key labour rights stakeholders in Bangladesh and internationally, and being legally binding. The reports of the Accord's inspections along with their Corrective Action Plans are published on the Accord website.

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