The Accord

After the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013, when over 1,130 garment workers died when a five-storey factory building in Bangladesh collapsed, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh was established. More than 200,000 potential death traps in 1,600 factories in Bangladesh have been fixed in the 9 years since the Accord was implemented. Crucially, the Accord is a legally-binding agreement which holds brands to account for safety violations in their supply chains. Due to the significant progress in safety in Bangladeshi garment factories, the International Accord came into effect in 2021 as the successor of the Accord.