The fire broke out on December 14, 2010, on the 9th and 10th floors of the That's It Sportswear factory, owned by Ha-Meem Group, one of Bangladesh's largest apparel manufacturers. Workers were trapped on the 11th floor because the building had no protected exit stairwells—in gross violation of Bangladesh's building safety code.
Despite calls in the wake of this disaster for brands to help address the sweeping safety deficiencies across the country's 3,000 garment factories, multiple US companies rejected the creation of a new safety agreement. The Worker Rights Consortium is thus urging all apparel brands to join the International Safety Accord.
"Safety renovations generated by the Accord across 1,600 factories have made conditions safer for more than two million workers," Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, said in a statement. "Participation by additional retailers would bring this life-saving programme to cover thousands more workers in Bangladesh and could help ensure its expansion to other countries."
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)