Western safety inspectors in Bangladesh drive garment business away
Time：2014-06-30
Browse：54
Pressure on western retailers to ensure safety in foreign factories after the collapse of the eight-storey Rana Plaza building in April 2013, that killed 1,130 garment workers has resulted in two inspectorates, Alliance and Accord.
The European Accord on Fire and Building Safety and North America`s Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety has inspected 2,100 factories and have the mandate to recommend closure.
Factory owners, already having to pay a big wage hike in November, are concerned about the arbitrary shutdowns as well as the cost of remedial building while workers go for as long as eight months without wages.
"I am left wondering if they at least care about the workers, who they mean to protect, because nobody has to explain to them what factory shutdown means," said Sonia & Sweaters director Mahabubur Rahman.
The garment industry accounts for 80 per cent of Bangladesh`s exports, and turmoil in the sector has put at risk the livelihoods of four million garment workers, mostly women.
Authority to shut factories rests with the government, and decisions are reviewed by a panel made up of Accord and Alliance people and engineers from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).
Of the western inspectors, one university engineer said: "Everybody appreciates they are working hard to make this industry safe, but have an extremely arrogant and a high-handed attitude."