With 3 new this month Alliance Suspends 83 factories till date
- BTT Newsdesk
- Textile Today News Desk,
On 21 June 2016 Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety announced the official suspension of operations with three additional factories for failure to show evidence of remediation progress. The Alliance has cut ties with a total of 83 factories to date.
A press release mentioned that "The Alliance performs independent inspections on the structural, electrical and fire safety of all factories from which its members source. Each factory is then provided with a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) designed to help it address safety issues and achieve compliance with Alliance safety standards. The Alliance also provides technical advice and access to low-cost loans to assist factories with remediation."
Now at the halfway point of its five-year initiative, the Alliance is on track to remediate all critical safety issues in its active factories by 2018. To date, half of all safety issues in Alliance factories have been corrected and 28 factories have completed all necessary repairs outlined in their Corrective Action Plans, two years ahead of schedule.
Factory suspension by Alliance means its member brands would no longer source from those factories, because in the Alliance Members Agreement (Section 1.1), member companies agree to "work with factories that ensure a safe working environment, with each Member committing not to source from any Factory that the Member has deemed to be unsafe."
Currently there are 931 factories under Alliance program among which only 673 factories are producing and exporting for Alliance member buyers.