North American buyers would run individual safety audits at Bangladesh readymade garment factories from which they procure RMG products after the expiry of the tenure of the buyers’ platform, Alliance, with a view to maintaining the safety standards set by it. Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, the consortium of 20 North American fashion brands buyers, has been trying to form a joint platform namely Safety Monitoring Organisation comprising the representatives from brands, government and factory owners to ensure post remediation safety monitoring after expiry of its tenure in December this year. According to the industry insiders, if the effort to form SMO is failed the Alliance brands might launch individual post‑inspection safety monitoring system in the factories after the expiry. They also said if the government did not allow SMO, the Alliance would wind-off its Bangladesh office after December 31 and the platform would not handover the responsibility of its supplier factories to any government body.The another buyers’ platform Accord on Fire and Building Safety, formed by European brands and retailers, submitted a transition plan to the government and started handing over the responsibility of its supplier factories to the government formed Remediation Coordination Cell. There might be two types of arrangement of post-remediation safety monitoring in the RMG factories in Bangladesh — firstly, brands would hire an internationally reputed audit farm and factory safety would be audited under the farm and secondly Alliance brands would conduct safety audits in their supplier factories individually, Jim Moriarty, executive director of Alliance told New Age.He also said that the second arrangement would be more tricky and expansive for the factory owners.Replying to a question Moriarty said they were not the authority of the factories and they could not handover it to the government of Bangladesh rather the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments was the authority of the factories and they could conduct inspection in the units any time. One of the officials of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporter Association said possibly Alliance member brands would launch individual audits in its supplier factories to maintain safety standard as the government decided in principle not to allow the proposal of SMO.Factories would have to expense more and face various difficulties due to individual audits, he said.One of the Alliance officials said they would leave Bangladesh after December 31, this year and the platform would try to complete remediation in 500 factories within the time frame.According to the Alliance data, the number of active factories of the platform was 655, of which 424 factories completed remediation. Following the Rana Plaza building collapse in April 24, 2013, that killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers, North American buyers and retailers formed the Alliance and at the same time European brands and retailers formed Accord undertaking a five-year plan, which set timeframes and accountability for inspections, trainings and worker empowerment programmes.
