A total of 60 RMG factories producing clothing products for Accord signatory brands have sought recognition as they have completed Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) outlined by the retailers platform. According to the Advisory Board Meeting Report of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety held in Dhaka, it has received information from approximately 60 factories, claiming that they have completed all remediation works. “The Accord has received an update that approximately 60 factories have completed all remediation works. Of them, two have been verified as having completed all initial remediations and have accordingly received recognition letters from the retailers platform,” said Brad Loewen, chief safety inspector (CSI). He added that the advisory meeting report was posted on the Accord website on February 8,2016. These factories will be specially noted on a dedicated section of the Accord website. The CSI expects that in the coming weeks and months more and more factories will complete their initial remediations, according to the report. The verification is an ongoing process. Initially, there were 60 factories. They might have all been inspected by now. Two RMG manufacturers – Concord Fashion Export Ltd and Jeacon – have successfully met all remediation requirements outlined by the Accord. The Accord engineers will verify the factory owners’ claim on completion of CAPs, Rob Wayss, executive director (Bangladesh Operations) of Accord, told the Dhaka Tribune. If the engineers find that all corrective measures are done, they will get recognition from the Accord and their names will be published on the website, he said. “We will prioritise those factories that have complied with Corrective Action Plans, but the Accord has also to concentrate on those, which are most vulnerable.” The Chief Safety Inspector of Accord said they conduct approximately 400 verifications per month. “From our initial inspections, we have found that so far two factories have successfully completed all remediations.” When a factory becomes fully compliant, they are publicly recognised by the Accord website, he said. The outcries over safety issues began after the Rana Plaza factory disaster that killed over 1,135 workers and injured over 2,500 people on April 24, 2013. After the factory collapse, the Alliance made a commitment to provide financial and technical support to improve fire and building safety standard of RMG factories from which they source products. The Accord has completed its assessment of 1,600 factories alongside publishing Corrective Action Plans for 1,358 RMG units and doing a follow-up inspection on 1,304 factories.
