Presented by Md. Saiful Islam

1. Supply Chain Session on World Forum for Responsible Economy
Presented By
Md. Saiful Islam
Managing Director
Picard Bangladesh Limited

2. Outline of Bangladesh Accord
• The Accord on Fire and Building Safety Bangladesh (“Accord”) is a legally binding agreement
between international trade unions, Industrial and UNI Global, Bangladeshi trade unions, and
over 100 global brands and retailers (Companies). International NGOs, Workers’ Rights
Consortium, International Labor Rights Forum and Maquila Solidarity Network are witnesses to
the agreement. The International Labor Organization (ILO) acts as the independent chair. The
Accord is an independent agreement signed on May 15th 2013 designed to make all garment
factories in Bangladesh safe workplaces.
• The purpose of Accord is to enable a working environment in which no worker needs to fear fires,
building collapses, or other accidents that could be prevented with reasonable health and safety
measures.
• The signatories to this Agreement agree to establish a fire and building safety program in
Bangladesh for a period of five years based on National Action Plan on Fire Safety (NAP).

3. Outline of Bangladesh Accord Cont’d…..
• The agreement consists of six key components:
A. A five-year legally binding agreement between brands and trade unions/trade
bodies to ensure a safe working environment in the Bangladeshi RMG industry.
B. An independent inspection program supported by brands in which workers and
trade unions/trade bodies are involved.
C. Public disclosure of all factories, inspection reports and corrective action plans
(CAP)
D. A commitment by signatory brands to ensure sufficient funds are available for
remediation and to maintain sourcing relationships.
E. Democratically elected health and safety committees in all factories to identify
and act on health and safety risks.
F. Worker empowerment through an extensive training program, complaints
mechanism and right to refuse unsafe work.

4. 1463
1439
1541
1646
1300 1350 1400 1450 1500 1550 1600 1650 1700
CAP Published
Follow up Inspection
Inspected Factories
Total Covered Factories
Status Of Factory Inspection
27
32
164
34
1401
1646
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
CAP Completed
CAP on Track
CAP not Finalized
CAP not Implemented
CAP behind Schedule
Total Factories
Status of CAP Implementation

5. 33613 32894
19790
23403
14756
38543436
4678
40656774
13460
11871
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
Electrical Fire Structural
Progress Status of findings from
Initial Inspections
Total Corrected Pending Verification In Progress
20803
6288
598
9879
1988
54
3314
1049
138
7610
3251
406
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Electrical Fire Structural
Progress Status of New finding from
Follow up Inspections
Total Corrected Pending Verification In Progress
• No. of Remediated supplier – 27
• No. of terminated supplier – 23

6. Challenges for Accord CAP Implementation
• Challenges
I. Mindset
a)Creating self awareness among entrepreneurs & workers that workplace safety is not just for
the buyers but for our own sake.
b) Putting efforts to reinforce the capacity of workers, supervisors and managers in the sector to
improve the safety of their workplaces
c)Conduct training, education and the social awareness campaigns, through which workers and
employers will benefit from improved safety practices

7. Challenges for Accord CAP Implementation Cont’d…..
II. Financial Constraint
a) Self financing by factories for remedies is difficult for the
entrepreneurs
b) Arranging loan from the signatory companies
c) Arranging loan from 3rd party provider
d) Pre payment of order

8. Benefit from ACCORD
I. One of the Accord’s biggest accomplishment is the scale by which factories have been
inspected and audited for electrical, fire and structural safety by professionals who
are qualified industrial engineers. Before the Accord, factory safety inspections were
mostly conducted by generalists with a background in social audits.
II. Accord has covered approximately 45 percent of the factories in Bangladesh that
export garments overseas; that is quite an impressive feat. And by most measures,
the Accord has made a huge difference in securing the improved safety of garment
workers.
III. Workers awareness also increased by a significant margin. They have basic knowledge
of firefighting equipment, lifesaving equipment, evacuation procedures and
emergency preparedness plan
IV. Transparency drives participation. Accord inspected factories do not have a choice but to
comply with Accord.

9. Improvement in factories as a result of the Accord
• Massive improvements in safety factors in a short span of time
• No major incident also occurred after the formation of accord.
• workers in Bangladesh’s garment industry can feel more secure and looked out
for
In the end, many have scored something even more important than
wages — their dignity and respect for their human rights

10. Experience with Accord
• The inspectors are quite professional & carried out their inspection thoroughly
• Most of the problems they identified are quite logical & we are trying to solve
those issues at our earliest.
• Accord should initiate un announced inspection in the factories
• Should put more emphasize on emergency evacuation plan
• Check the physical condition of Life saving & Fire fighting appliances.
• Continue periodical checking of remediated factories.

11. 6
8
3
1 1
3
2
1 1
2 2
3 3
1
2
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Jun'15 Jul'15 Aug'15 Sep'15 Oct'15 Nov'15 Dec'15 Jan'16 Feb'16 Mar'16 Apr'16 May'16 Jun'16 Jul'16 Aug'16
No. of Injuries
No. of Injuries Linear (No. of Injuries)
Injury Trend Analysis of Picard Bangladesh Ltd. 2015-2016

12. Recommendations for how responsibility for Tier 1 to 4
suppliers can be shared
• Initiate inspection, remediation & fire safety training on all tier
factories for occupational health & safety without any discrimination
on the % of product they supply.
• Payment terms can be improved to minimize cost of fund.
• Terminate orders who are unwilling to follow recommendations.

13. You may visit the presentation
http://www.slideshare.net/saiful1960/world-forum-for-responsible-
economy-2016
Thanking you.
Md. Saiful Islam