Fifty-nine per cent of remediation works has been completed in the readymade garment factories which supply products to the North American buyers and retailers, according to a recent report of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety. The report said that the Alliance conducted initial safety inspection to 696 RMG factories and provided corrective action plan to 670 factories. Out of the suggested CAPs, as of mid-August, 59.10 per cent of non-compliances were corrected, 36.50 per cent of non-compliances were on progress and 4.40 per cent of non-compliances still remained untouched. The report showed that the highest 66.20 per cent remediation works had been achieved in electrical safety and the lowest 44.80 per cent progress in the structural safety. Of the fire safety-related remediation works, 57.80 per cent was completed.According to the Alliance report, the platform removed 93 factories from its suppliers’ list on charge of their failure in making adequate remediation progress in the timeframe. As many as 136 factories were in the Alliance escalation process and the factories had been asked to take immediate action to ensure that the remediation issues were quickly addressed; otherwise, the factories would have to face suspension. After the Rana Plaza building collapse, which killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers, in April 2013, the North American retailers, including top brands Walmart and Gap, formed the Alliance undertaking a five-year plan which set timelines and accountability for inspections and training and workers’ empowerment programmes. Now the number of active factories of the alliance is 685 in which a total of 10.38 lakh workers are employed.
