According to Walmart, about 10 of more than six dozen Bangladesh garment factories failed their safety checks in audits it commissioned. The retailer hired Bureau Veritas to check some 200 factories it uses in Bangladesh after the April collapse of Rana Plaza building which killed more than 1,100 people and highlighted often grim conditions in the country's garment industry.
About 75 factories have been audited so far and Walmart said it will release the results for other factories as the inspections are completed. It said factories that failed audits have since made improvements.
Bangladeshi garment makers employ millions of people, mostly women, but safety has been an afterthought amid pressure to fill orders, while enforcement of labour rights and building safety codes is compromised by corruption and thin government resources.
In the aftermath of the Rana Plaza disaster, major European clothing retailers signed up to a system of factory inspections in conjunction with labour and activist groups. Recently garment factory owners agreed to a 77 per cent increase in the minimum wage for new unskilled garment workers to Taka 5,300 ($66) a month after Bangladesh's prime minister stepped in to resolve four days of violent clashes over wages.
