WASHINGTON, November 24, 2021 / PRNewswire / – Two months after the entry into force of the International Agreement on Health and Safety in the Textile and Clothing Industry in September 2021, 150 clothing brands and retailers had already signed this new binding agreement which extends the model developed by the Bangladesh Accord to protect workers’ safety. Signatories include H&M, Zara, American Eagle Outfitters, Tommy Hilfiger, and Hanesbrands.

“The Accord is the most effective security program ever created in the global apparel supply chain. It has generated hundreds of thousands of repairs and renovations to vital factories across from Bangladesh sprawling clothing industry, ”said Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium. In the years leading up to the catastrophic death toll at Tazreen Fashions and Rana Square in 2012 and 2013, 900 workers died in dozens of other garment factory disasters in Bangladesh. Since 2016, just three years after the Accord’s implementation, there has not been a single death at an Accord-listed factory due to a safety issue covered by the program.

At November 24, 2012, hundreds of people were working overtime at Tazreen Fashions – where 5 of 14 production lines made Walmart clothing – when it caught fire. The building had no emergency exits. A survivor, Sumi abedin, said her manager locked the doors to her floor after the fire alarm sounded, claiming it was a false alarm. When smoke hit the ground a few minutes later, the manager was nowhere to be found. She survived with a broken leg after jumping out of a third floor window. That day, 112 of his colleagues perished.

“On the anniversary of a horrific disaster facilitated by Walmart’s flawed safety monitoring system, the Worker Rights Consortium pleads with the retailer to stop ignoring worker safety in its supply chain and to sign the International Accord, ”Nova said.

In april 2011, during negotiations that ultimately led to the formation of the original Accord program in 2013, Walmart attempted to block the effort. Walmart claimed it was “not financially feasible” for it to pay suppliers better prices to help pay for safety renovations like proper fire exits.

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SOURCE Consortium for workers’ rights