The Scenario of Fire Safety through Accord in Bangladeshi Garments Industry

Abstract

The Ready-Made Garment (RMG) sector is one of the industries that drive the economy of Bangladesh towards growth. The risk management of this sector has always been a major concern. Several incidents in this sector increased this concern of several related parties. Different codes of conduct and policies have been introduced in different times to improve the overall scenario. After two massive fire incidents in Tazreen Fashion and building collapse of Rana Plaza in Bangladesh, an accord program has been built to ensure the fire and safety in 2013. The purpose of this study is to explore whether the accord has improved fire safety condition in the Bangladeshi garments industry or not. Therefore, the study initially focuses on looking into the existing literature on history and risk management issues of Bangladeshi garment industry. This study is a descriptive study, based on primary and secondary data. Primary data has been collected through semi-structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews from several respondents from several garment factories. The result of this study illustrates, after the legally binding agreement of Accord 2013, Bangladeshi garments and textile industries had started to focus on worker safety issues. However, in order to prevent fire hazard and ensure a better workplace for the garment workers, they have taken all the necessary steps by ensuring a proper checklist for the fire gadgets and implementing training session for the workers. The findings should make substantial empirical contribution to show the real influence of the codes. However, the study was limited to only Bangladeshi garment industry and due to Covid-19 pandemic, the accessibility to various respondents of this industry has been restricted. Therefore, it may also affect the sample size. Overall, the study may provide an idea about the implication of the accord in garment factories and the result may help the policy makers to develop/modify policies for this sector in a more effective way.