Nearly 44 more readymade garment factories which manufacture products for North American retailers and buyers have completed full safety remediation in December in 2017. The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (AFBWS), said in a statement. Including the 44 new RMG factories, the total number of remediated factories affiliated with the AFBWS, a platform of North American buyers and retailers, reached 301.

Jim Moriarty, the Alliance Executive Director exults, “Each of these factories deserves our commendation for working hard to achieve the Alliance’s strict safety standards. Their progress sets the tone for 2018 and furthers our mission of ushering in a culture of safety in Bangladesh garment industry,” he added. Across all Alliance factories, 87 per cent of all required factory remediation has been completed, the Alliance statement noted.

The total number of suspended factories stands at 164, however, no factories were suspended for failing to make adequate remediation progress in December, this only goes to show that a combined effort by Alliance factories to take appropriate measures to provide safer working conditions for their employees.

The Alliance has so far inspected over 700 RMG factories and currently the number of active factories under the platform is 658. After the Rana Plaza building collapse in April 24, 2013, that killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garments workers, North American retailers including Walmart and Gap formed the Alliance undertaking a five-year plan, which set timeframes and accountability for inspections and training and workers empowerment programmes. EU retailers formed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety to improve safety in around 1500 factories in Bangladesh.