A new workplace compliance-and-safety-monitoring body will take over the infrastructure, operations and staff of Accord as it transitions out of Bangladesh over the next several months. Accord will hand over its responsibilities in Bangladesh to the Readymade Garment Sustainability council (RSC). This national initiative will bring together industry, brands and trade unions to promote unified industrial relations, skill development and environmental standards, while carrying forward the significant accomplishments made on workplace safety in the South Asian nation since Accord’s formation in the wake of the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster, which killed more than a thousand workers and injured thousands more.

An international compact among nonprofit organizations, Western manufacturers and retailers, Bangladesh union federations, and several major global unions, Accord has monitored fire and building safety in 1,700 factories in Bangladesh over the past six years for signatory brands. It has conducted 30,000 inspections and remedied more than 90 per cent of violations at 1,000 factories.

Readymade garments make up roughly 80 per cent of Bangladesh’s export earnings, contributing almost 16 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product. Bangladesh is the world’s second largest garment exporter after China and produces clothing for some of the biggest retailers in the world, including H&M, Uniqlo and Zara.