Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a platform of 27 North American retailers and brands, started garment factory inspections from today (March 12).
“We’re planning to complete inspection more than 400 factories by July this year,” Mesbah Rabin, managing director at Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, told BBN in Dhaka.
He also said seven teams are inspecting the factories across the country.
Although the Alliance is supposed to inspect more than 600 factories, Wal-Mart, a major retailer in the Alliance, has already completed inspections of 200 factories.
“If the expert panel accepts the reports on the previously inspected 200 factories, it will not be necessary to re-inspect,” Mr. Rabin explained.
Earlier, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh started inspecting nearly 1,600 factories on February 20.
Another 30 teams of experts led by Bangladesh University and Engineering and Technology also started inspections on November 21 last year.
After the Tazreen Fashions fire and the Rana Plaza collapse, a total of 150 retailers and brands, mostly European, signed the legally binding Accord and 27 US-based retailers and brands joined the Alliance to strengthen safety practices in the garment sector in Bangladesh.
BBN/SSR/AD-12Mar14-1:10 pm (BST)