https://www.scmp.com/rss/303856/feed The collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh killed 1,129 people, ranking among the world’s worst industrial accidents and spurred retailers and clothing brands to improve safety standards at suppliers. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Five years after more than a thousand people were killed when a poorly-built Bangladesh clothing factory collapsed on top of its workforce, a study has found nearly half the country’s factories still pose life-threatening risks.  Researchers found that while the Rana Plaza disaster in April 2013 prompted a range of improvements within the textile industry, there is still cause for grave concern. The Rana Plaza building had been expanded illegally, with additional floors stacked one on top of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2143075/five-years-nightmare-rana-plaza-what-changed-bangladesh?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2143075/five-years-nightmare-rana-plaza-what-changed-bangladesh?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Apr 2018 06:44:53 +0000 In 2010 a spate of suicides at factories in southern China owned by Foxconn, a contract manufacturer for some of the world’s leading electronics brands, highlighted poor conditions faced by its assembly workers. Foxconn promised to improve working conditions, but reports of further suicides or attempted suicides have continued to dog the company. Three years later, more than 1,000 Bangladeshi workers were crushed to death when the Rana Plaza just outside Dhaka collapsed. The building was not... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2126933/how-brands-can-outsource-production-without-costing-lives?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2126933/how-brands-can-outsource-production-without-costing-lives?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Jan 2018 03:04:08 +0000 A Bangladesh court on Tuesday jailed the Rana Plaza owner for three years for graft, the first of many charges laid against him after the garment factory complex collapsed in 2013 and killed more than 1,130 people. Sohel Rana was given the maximum three-year sentence by a special court in Dhaka for failing to declare his personal wealth to Bangladesh’s anti-graft commission, one of a series of charges brought after the disaster. “This is the first time he has been convicted and jailed,” said... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2108839/bangladesh-court-jails-owner-rana-plaza-where-1130-people-died?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2108839/bangladesh-court-jails-owner-rana-plaza-where-1130-people-died?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Aug 2017 12:49:33 +0000 A group of retailers and clothing brands failed on Thursday to establish compensation funds for the victims of two Bangladesh factory disasters, as many companies that sourced clothes from the buildings decided not to take part in the process. At talks chaired by the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, the brands discussed setting up funds to compensate the victims of both the Rana Plaza disaster in April, when an eight-storey building collapsed, killing 1,129 people, and a fire at the... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1309011/retailers-divided-over-bangladesh-factory-victims-compensation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1309011/retailers-divided-over-bangladesh-factory-victims-compensation?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Sep 2013 03:26:39 +0000 A group of mainly European retailers has finalised a plan to conduct coordinated inspections of factories in Bangladesh in an attempt to prevent a repeat of the Rana Plaza disaster that killed 1,129 people in April. The collapse of Rana Plaza, a factory built on swampy ground outside Dhaka, on April 24 ranks among the world’s worst industrial accidents and has galvanised brands to look more closely at their suppliers. The new accord was launched by trade unions in May and signed by 70 brands,... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1277877/retailers-plan-bangladesh-factory-inspections-under-safety-pact?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1277877/retailers-plan-bangladesh-factory-inspections-under-safety-pact?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Jul 2013 05:23:34 +0000 Bangladeshi garment factories are routinely built without consulting engineers. Many are located in commercial or residential buildings not designed to withstand the stress of heavy manufacturing. Some add illegal extra floors atop support columns too weak to hold them, according to a survey of scores of factories by an engineering university that was shown to The Associated Press. A separate inspection, by the garment industry, of 200 risky factories found that 10 per cent of them were so... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1260740/more-bangladesh-factories-dangerous-ap?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1260740/more-bangladesh-factories-dangerous-ap?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Jun 2013 07:04:34 +0000 Fast Retailing, the Japanese operator of the Uniqlo and Theory fashion brands, for now will not sign a legally binding safety pact for factories in Bangladesh, preferring to ramp up its own inspections, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. In April, more than 1,100 garment workers died in the collapse of the eight-story Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, putting pressure on fashion brands to improve worker safety. Instead of joining rivals like Sweden’s H&M and Spain’s Inditex, owner of... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1248015/uniqlo-owner-wont-sign-bangladesh-safety-pact?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1248015/uniqlo-owner-wont-sign-bangladesh-safety-pact?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 May 2013 02:35:33 +0000 Labour umbrella groups Industrial Global Union and UNI Global Union yesterday praised top retailers for joining their drive to make Bangladesh's garment factories safer, after 1,127 people died in a factory collapse last month. "This accord is a turning point. We are putting in place rules that mark the end of the race to the bottom in the global supply chain," UNI Global Union's head Philip Jennings said in a statement. The two Swiss-based union federations - whose combined global membership... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1239407/retailers-sign-accord-bangladesh-factory-standards?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1239407/retailers-sign-accord-bangladesh-factory-standards?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Wal-Mart Stores, the American chain that is the world's largest retailer, said it would not accept "at this time" an agreement to improve fire and building safety in Bangladesh that is supported by labour monitoring groups and signed by several other retailers this week. Instead, in the wake of the deadly Rana Plaza building collapse, the world's largest retailer announced it would make public safety inspections at all of its suppliers' authorised factories in Bangladesh. Labour groups, however,... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1238145/north-american-retailers-devising-own-bangladesh-plans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1238145/north-american-retailers-devising-own-bangladesh-plans?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 May 2013 03:22:34 +0000 Hundreds of factories which form the hub of Bangladesh's garment industry are to close indefinitely after worker unrest sparked by the death of more than 1,100 colleagues, employees announced yesterday. As the search for bodies from last month's collapse of a factory complex wrapped up, the textile industry's main trade body said all operations at the nearby Ashulia industrial zone were being suspended until further notice. Shahidullah Azim, of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1237178/scores-factories-textile-hub-shut-amid-unrest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1237178/scores-factories-textile-hub-shut-amid-unrest?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Bangladesh’s army announced on Monday that it was wrapping up its search for bodies following last month’s collapse of a garment factory complex, saying that it now believed a total of 1,127 people were killed. The army general in charge of the marathon recovery effort said that he was now handing over operational control to civilian administrators and expected his troops to be back in their barracks within the next 24 hours. “The army’s recovery operation is almost over,” Brigadier General... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1236898/bangladesh-army-end-search-disaster-bodies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1236898/bangladesh-army-end-search-disaster-bodies?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 May 2013 10:23:16 +0000 On April 24, Reshma Begum was working in a factory on the second floor of Rana Plaza when the building began collapsing around her. She raced down a stairwell into the basement, where she became trapped near a Muslim prayer room in a wide space that allowed her to survive. "At some point I fell asleep but suddenly I woke up and it was difficult to know whether it was day or night," Begum was quoted as saying by Major Moazzem Hossain, who was involved in the rescue on Friday. Her long hair got... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1235662/miracle-survivor-bangladesh-collapse-lost-track-day-and-night-rubble?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1235662/miracle-survivor-bangladesh-collapse-lost-track-day-and-night-rubble?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The death toll from last month’s collapse of a garment factory complex in Bangladesh rose past 1,000 on Friday as piles of bodies were found in the ruins of a stairwell where victims had sought shelter. Brigadier General Siddiqul Alam Sikder, the army officer overseeing the operation on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, said that the death toll now stands at 1,035 after dozens more remains were discovered overnight. Alam said that many of the bodies were now little more than skeletons, 17 days... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1234517/bangladesh-toll-passes-1000-stacks-bodies-found?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1234517/bangladesh-toll-passes-1000-stacks-bodies-found?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 May 2013 06:48:40 +0000 The death toll from Bangladesh’s worst industrial disaster passed 800 on Wednesday as rescuers pulled dozens more bodies from the rubble of a nine-storey building that collapsed outside Dhaka last month. “The death toll now stands at 803” with 790 bodies recovered from the wreckage and 13 victims who died in hospital, said Lieutenant Mir Rabbi, an official in the army control room set up to coordinate disaster relief efforts. More than 3,000 garment workers were on shift when the Rana Plaza... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1233090/bangladesh-factory-death-toll-passes-800?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1233090/bangladesh-factory-death-toll-passes-800?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 May 2013 12:00:17 +0000 Hundreds of survivors of Bangladesh’s worst industrial disaster blocked a main highway to demand wages Tuesday as the death toll from the collapse of a nine-storey building passed 700, officials said. Around 3,000 garment workers were on shift at the Rana Plaza complex at the time of the collapse on the morning of April 24, making clothing for Western retailers such as Britain’s Primark and the Spanish label Mango. Many of the staff were earning only around 38 dollars a month, a salary condemned... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1232253/bangladesh-building-death-toll-approaches-700?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1232253/bangladesh-building-death-toll-approaches-700?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 May 2013 06:37:37 +0000 The Bangladesh building that collapsed last month killing more than 570 people was designed to be used for a shopping mall and commercial offices such as banks, not for factories, the architect told news agency AFP. Masood Reza, a leading Bangladesh architect and a professor at a state-run university, said he felt “pain and anguish” when he saw footage of the garment workers trapped under the pancaked floors, crying desperately for help. He accused building owner, Sohel Rana, now facing charges... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1230573/collapsed-bangladesh-building-not-designed-factory-use-says-architect?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1230573/collapsed-bangladesh-building-not-designed-factory-use-says-architect?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 May 2013 05:52:49 +0000 The death toll from Bangladesh’s worst industrial disaster rose to 540 on Saturday after 15 bodies were overnight pulled from the wreckage of an eight-storey building housing garment factories, the army said. Major Sazzad Hossain of the army control room, which was set up to coordinate the rescue operation following the disaster last month, said that recovery efforts had gathered pace and the “death toll now stands at 540”. The building housing five garment factories collapsed near the capital... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1229995/bangladesh-building-collapse-death-toll-hits-540?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1229995/bangladesh-building-collapse-death-toll-hits-540?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 May 2013 07:45:58 +0000