Following the expected departure of North American buyers’ body Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (after the expiry of its current term on December 31, 2018) from the country, buyers and brands associated with the platform is expected to run individual safety audits of garment manufacturing units that they are sourcing from so as to maintain the required safety standards.
There might be two types of arrangement of post-remediation safety monitoring in the RMG factories in Bangladesh — firstly, brands would hire an internationally reputed audit farm and factory safety would be audited under the farm and secondly Alliance brands would conduct safety audits in their supplier factories individually, reportedly stated Executive Director of Alliance Jim Moriarty while interacting with the media recently.
It may be mentioned here that the North American buyers’ platform has reportedly been trying to form a joint platform namely Safety Monitoring Organisation comprising the representatives from brands, Government and factory owners to ensure post remediation safety monitoring after expiry of Alliance’s tenure.
According to the Alliance, the number of active factories of the platform was 655, of which 424 factories completed remediation.
It may be mentioned here that in the aftermath of Rana Plaza building collapse in April 24, 2013, North American buyers and retailers formed the Alliance while European brands and retailers formed Accord to undertake remediation of the RMG sector.
