Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh

In December 2017, Benetton Group confirmed its adherence to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, launched in May 2013 following the event that is universally remembered as the “tragedy of Rana Plaza”.

The Accord, of which Benetton was one of the first signatories, is an independent initiative involving more than 200 clothing company worldwide, and also engaging trade unions, the International Labor Organization (ILO) and various nongovernmental organizations. The Accord, developed to secure all apparel manufacturing in Bangladesh, also provides for independent inspections and transparency of the local textile supply chain.

The main points of the agreement include:

  • an independent inspections program supported by the signatory companies, involving employees and trade union associations;
  • transparent communication of the list of the production facilities, audit reports and corrective action plans;
  • the commitment of the signatory companies to ensure the effective implementation of the corrective action plans and to maintain ongoing business relations;
  • the establishment of democratically elected health and safety committees in all the sites to identify the main risks related to workers’ health and safety;
  • the development of workers through a broad-based training program;
  • the implementation of complaint mechanisms and the right to refuse to work in unsafe conditions.

The list of factories involved in Accord is available on https://bangladeshaccord.org. They are classified according to their percentage of implemented corrective actions. Regarding Benetton’s suppliers, in mid-2022, 45% of them completed their remediation process, 14% are implementing their plan in accordance to the timelines given by the Accord, while 41% are working on their objectives, but some timelines have not been met. Compared to the initial non-conformities, 96% of the critical issues relating to the fire protection system and 100% of those relating to the electrical and structural aspects have been resolved.

To know more about Benetton Group’s engagement for Bangladesh, read here Benetton for Bangladesh