worker safety news and archive

How useful are grievance mechanisms for garment workers? Insights from Bangladesh’s Amader Kotha helpline

After the Rana Plaza building collapse on 24th April 2013 in Savar near Dhaka in Bangladesh, two initiatives emerged that were tasked with improving situations in the country’s ready-made garment (RMG) sector: the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety (Accord) and the Bangladesh Alliance for Worker Safety (Alliance). The loss of more...

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Retail

Retail Worker Safety Act passes New York Assembly

The New York Assembly passed the Retail Worker Safety Act last night, as retailer workers across the state face increasing violence and harassment in the workplace. The Act, a proposal for a workplace safety bill backed by retail unions in New York state, including Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU), seeks to mandate retail...

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Business

Fatal fire at major Indian denim supplier highlights lack of industry safety standards

Different day, same story: A fire breaks out in a garment factory, exits are shut and workers die because they cannot get out. This time, Nandan Denim was affected, in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The fire broke out last Saturday evening, killing seven workers as the sole exit was reachable only via a...

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Business

India: fatal factory fire shows that workplaces are still unsafe

A deadly fire at an Anaj Mandi area factory in north Delhi killed 43 people in the early morning hours on Sunday; 16 to 20 people were injured. The story sounds only too familiar: The building in a residential area of Delhi was illegally operated as a factory that made various products, including garments. About 70 factory workers - mainly...

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Business|REPORT

Seven years after deadly fire, not much has changed in Pakistan's garment industry

While the garment industry worldwide is by now well aware of what transpired on 24th April 2013 when the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh collapsed, killing 1,134 workers in the five garment factories it housed and injuring 2,500, few are aware of Pakistan’s worst industrial disaster that occurred just a few months before: On 11th September...

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Fashion

Just one in eight Bangladesh garment factories pass international safety inspection

The president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has said that only 200 out of 1,500 garment factories in the country have met safety requirements for workers set out by an international accord, Reuters reports. According to the news organisation, Rubana Huq accused members of the accord on Sunday of...

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Business

Bangladesh Alliance to transition garment worker helpline

The Bangladesh Alliance for Worker Safety (Alliance) announced in a press release yesterday that it will transition its 24/7 worker helpline Amader Kotha (“Our Voice”) this month together with other initiatives to an independent safety monitoring organisation (SMO) managed in partnership with credible, local partners. This is good news for...

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Fashion |TIMELINE

Rana Plaza - 5 years later

For the fifth time, people around the world will commemorate the anniversary of the worst industrial disaster, the most devasting blow to the garment sector - Rana Plaza. On April 23, 2013 the Rana Plaza building in Savar, close to Dhaka in Bangladesh, collapsed. The building housed five garment factories and the accident took the lives of 1,138...

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Business

Bangladesh Alliance looking for successor organisation

The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (Alliance) whose five-year-term draws to a close at the end of the year, has decided to look for a way to carry forward its inspections, safety monitoring, training and helpline services. This was announced by the Alliance in a note released today. The board of directors of the currently 29 brands strong...

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Business

Bangladesh: Alliance announces fourth year results

The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, which currently covers 785 factories and close to 1.4 million workers, has realeased its fourth annual report today, announcing substantial factory safety improvements and the expansion of its worker training and empowerment initiatives within the past year. According to the Alliance, the data confirm...

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Business

Fashion's biggest brands commit to new Bangladesh Accord

To guarantee that efforts are sustained beyond May 2018, the time when the five-year duration of the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety will run out, a new Bangladesh Accord has been announced yesterday at the OECD Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct in Paris. “The renewal of the Bangladesh Accord ensures the continuation of...

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Fashion |TIMELINE

Rana Plaza - 4 years after

For the fourth time, people around the world will commemorate the anniversary of the worst industrial disaster, the worst blow to the garment industry. On April 24, 2013 the Rana Plaza building in Savar, close to Dhaka in Bangladesh, collapsed. It housed five garment factories and cost the lives of 1,134 of their workers; more than 2,500 were...