After one of the worst industrial accidents on record, the multi-billion-dollar ready-made garment (RMG) industry took a good hard look at itself and has implemented commendable changes in the past nine years.
The collapse of the eight-story factory building on the outskirts of the capital resulted in the deaths of 1,138 people and thousands injured.
After implementing several changes, the RMG industry has seen a year on year rise in export earnings
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), and the manufacturers, RMG exports from Bangladesh have more than doubled, from $14.6 billion in 2011 to $35.81 billion 2021.
Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director of the CPD said that many initiatives have been taken in the last nine years including legal reforms where the EU, ILO, US, Canada also joined.
“Moreover, the working environment has been improved at the factory level and institutional reforms have also been carried out. This has led to a reduction in factory accidents and a positive change for which the buyers have confidence in our country,” he added.
He also said that both purchase orders and export earnings are increasing every financial year as a result.
How workplace safety has increased
The RMG industry saw a massive shift in workplace safety in the last nine years.
Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, and the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, are the two bodies that have assisted factory units to transform their fire, structural and electrical safety measures.
A recent McKinsey report dubbed Bangladesh’s RMG sector as a frontrunner in transparency regarding factory safety and value-chain responsibility, thanks to initiatives launched in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza disasters.
Mckinsey also highlighted the fact that more than 1,500 Bangladeshi companies are certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard, which is the second highest number in any country in the world.
Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said that the factories are not only safer, but also have become more dynamic, modern, energy-efficient and environment-friendly today.
“We have learned a lesson from the Rana Plaza tragedy and are aware of the future course of action to prevent such an incident,” he added.
A recent survey report unveiled by Hong Kong-based supply chain compliance solutions provider, QIMA, ranked Bangladesh second in “Ethical Manufacturing” with a score of 7.7 only behind Taiwan which scored an 8.
A revolution in establishing Green factories Before the Rana Plaza tragedy, there were only two green factories in the country but now, Bangladesh has by far the highest number of green garment factories in the world.
US Green Building Council (USGBC) certified a total of 157 Bangladeshi factories as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), among them 47 are LEED platinum-rated and 96 are LEED gold-rated units.
Moreover, 500 more factories are in the pipeline for certification.
BGMEA has been awarded the 2021 USGBC Leadership Award by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) for green initiatives in the local apparel industry.
Partnership with global Initiatives
BGMEA has joined the UN Fashion Industry Charter on Climate Action of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and also pledged to the German government-led initiative-- “Green Button”.
Moreover, BGMEA has partnered with Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) and the Reverse Resources (RR) to build Circular Fashion Partnership (CFP) to initiate a circular business model in the industry.
The BGMEA has improved their new membership criteria following the Rana Plaza tragedy.
According to manufacturers, the new factories who want membership have to go through a stricter process which ensures the applicant factory's structural safety, fire safety and electrical safety.
Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, vice-president of the BKMEA said that the membership criteria have changed a lot since the Rana Plaza tragedy and they are almost succeeding in bringing the existing members under compliance.
The guideline for new members is zero tolerance and they are not giving memberships unless it is a 100% compliant factory.
“We also discussed this in our last board meeting. Our clear message is that those who do not have a sense of responsibility towards society and workers do not need to come into business in this sector,” he added.
Safety Committee
The Accord and Alliance raised the awareness of the workers about their safety.
Moreover, most of the garment factories formed a safety committee as per the compliance conditions.
“The Rana Plaza tragedy increased the awareness of safety among the management and workers,” said Mohiuddin Rubel, director of the BGMEA.
The biggest paradigm shift since the Rana Plaza tragedy has been the safety culture that has been developed through public-private partnership in the factories, he added.
“The ILO has joined us in this process and we made the arrangements for the awareness and training which is being supervised by BGMEA,” he added.
However, the task of the safety committee includes conducting safety checks at the factory to identify hazards, responding to employee complaints and suggestions about safety; health and reviewing company accident reports to learn how such accidents can be prevented.
A safer subcontracting guideline
The Rana Plaza tragedy has shown that the subcontracting issue was significant. Subsequent guidelines on subcontracting management have been issued by the Ministry of Commerce.
The guidelines include that the factories must be an updated member of BGMEA or BKMEA with an inter-bonding arrangement.
“The original manufacturer will inform the buyer in advance and provide the details of the sub-contract factories in case it needs subcontracting,” said Mohiuddin Rubel.
Moreover, the guidelines also said that only the compliant factories will be eligible for doing the task of subcontractors and there must be an agreement and the copy of the agreement must be given to BGMEA and BKMEA.
The guidelines also set minimum wages for the workers in the subcontracting factories. The structural designs of those factories must also be approved by the concerned authorities.
RSC
The readymade garment industry of Bangladesh has come a long way. But the industry is not letting complacency and inertia set in because the stakeholders are well aware of the fact that the only constant in business is change.
Now the industry is focusing on building its own capacity to monitor workplace safety through a national safety regime. The formation of the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC) is a part of that endeavor.
“Now that Bangladesh’s RMG industry is coming of age and there are signs that it is well-positioned to capture a leadership position in apparel export, achieving its own capacity to lead the industry towards safety and sustainability is of paramount importance at this stage of its journey,” said Faruque Hassan.
Underlying challenges to the way
The above improvements have taken place in the apparel sector in the past nine years; however, the experts think that there is still room for further development.
Golam Moazzem said that if the progress that has been achieved cannot be sustainable, there will be challenges.
He added saying, there are some weaknesses in keeping this progress consistent like the lack of efficiency, accountability, transparency and lack of coordination in the activities of RSC.
He thinks there will be risks of major accidents without regular inspection and monitoring.
“Monitoring and inspection in all these institutional places should be made more effective,” he said.
Moreover, there are still more things to be done like health insurance, trade unions etc, he added.
Salauddin Swapan, acting president of IndustriAll Bangladesh Council (IBC) the factories have undergone a lot of environmental improvements since the Rana Plaza tragedy, but it is disappointing that those responsible for the incident have not been brought to justice in the last nine years.
Moreover, in the tripartite RSC, the workers do not have bargaining power so many of their demands are not being met, he added.
“As much as the safety committees were active during the Accord and Alliance, it has somehow faded under the RSC. Moreover, commodity prices are skyrocketing, and in this situation, not reforming the minimum wage is also a big challenge,” he added.
Another drawback is that despite many recent incidents of fires, most factories catering to the domestic market are reluctant to comply with safety regulations as eyes are fixed on the export-oriented RMG industry since the Rana Plaza incident.
Zillur Rahman Mridha, managing director of Vintage Denim Studio Limited said that accidents used to happen in RMG factories too.
“But we have reduced these incidents significantly in the last few years. In this case, both our goodwill and the pressure of the buyers have worked equally well,” he added.
He also said that all other factories should also come forward in these matters like the RMG sector.
Fazlee Shamim Ehsan said buyers should also ensure a fair price for Bangladeshi products.
