The government-appointed engineers completed inspection of 1,000 garment factories under the national initiatives, the International Labour Organisation said in a statement yesterday. The government has been inspecting fire, electrical and structural flaws of the factories, which are not the members of the Accord and Alliance. Apart from the government inspection, two other agencies — Accord, a platform of 200 retailers and brands, mostly European, and Alliance, a platform of 26 North American retailers and brands — have been inspecting factories for ensuring workplace safety after the Rana Plaza building collapse. The government, Accord and Alliance targeted to inspect a total of 3,508 export-oriented garment factories throughout Bangladesh. According to the ILO, some 2,904 factories have been inspected so far. Of the factories, 1,000 fall under the government’s National Initiative under the Tripartite Plan of Action, supported by the ILO with backing from Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Accord and Alliance have inspected 1,904 factories, and some 604 factories from the original list remain to be inspected, the statement said. On the completion of the inspection of 1,000 factories, Syed Ahmed, inspector general of the Department of Inspection of Factories and Establishments (DIFE), said, “This is a significant milestone as we seek to create a safer RMG sector in Bangladesh.” “We are now making concerted efforts to complete as many inspections as possible by the July 31 deadline. We shall not compromise on the safety of the workers. After this date, factories will no longer receive inspections for free and will need to meet the costs themselves if they wish to continue exporting,” Ahmed said.
