Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh on Tuesday handed over the safety activities of 80 more readymade garment factories to the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments.With the 80, the total number of RMG factories which have been transferred to the DIFE from Accord reached 100.Accord, the platform of European fashion retailers and buyers, started handing over the responsibility of its ongoing safety activities in the RMG sector in Bangladesh on October 24 with the transfer of 20 factories to the Remediation Coordination Cell under the DIFE. In the second phase, Accord handed over 80 factories which were completely remediated, according to a release issued by the RCC.Rob Wayss, executive director of Accord, handed over the documents of the 80 factories to DIFE deputy inspector general Mahfuzur Rahman at DIFE auditorium in Dhaka. The documents, including fire, electrical and structural inspection reports, record of all past follow-up inspections, latest Accord follow-up inspection report, latest updated Corrective Action Plan (CAP), copy of recognition letter from Accord to factory on completion of initial inspections remediation, list of new finding in progress and timelines for remediation of same as set by the Accord, escalation status and any financial support received through the Accord Remediation Fund, were handed over to the DIFE.Following the Rana Plaza building collapse in April 24, 2013, that killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers, EU retailers formed the Accord and North American retailers formed the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety undertaking a five-year plan which set timeframes and accountability for inspections and training and workers’ empowerment programmes.The Accord has so far inspected more than 1,600 RMG factories while the Alliance has inspected more than 700 units.Accord-listed factories completed more than 91 per cent of remediation works while 172 factories completed 100 per cent remediation.The tenure of the Accord ended on November 30 and the platform wanted to stay in Bangladesh for more time.The issue remained under judicial consideration.
