Some 93 per cent remediation of the Alliance-affiliated factories has been completed, including 90 per cent of the items that are most critical to life safety.
Besides, a total of 428 factories have completed inclusion of all material items in their initial Corrective Action Plans (CAPs), and nearly 1.6 million workers have been trained to protect themselves in case of fire emergency.
These were revealed in the 'Fifth Annual Report November 2018' of Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (Alliance), a platform of North American apparel buyers.
Alliance released its fifth and final annual report on Thursday, announcing near completion of its factory safety initiative, and full execution of its fire safety training and 24-hour workers helpline for more than 1.5 million workers in the Alliance-affiliated factories.
With an ecosystem of safety now in place, Alliance is transitioning its training programme and helpline to local partners, who will continue both and also expand these to additional factories throughout Bangladesh, according to the report.
Most Alliance member brands plan to work through a local organisation to collectively monitor safety standards, training execution and helpline promotion in the factories, from which they source.
Consistency in the level of safety achieved under Alliance will remain a requirement of these brands, it also said.
"In the past five years, Alliance, our member brands and the owners of Alliance-affiliated factories have achieved unprecedented progress toward the goal of improving safety in Bangladesh's ready-made garment industry, while simultaneously helping to solidify the country's standing as a global leader in garment exports," it said quoting Alliance Executive Director Jim Moriarty.
"Maintaining this progress must remain an ongoing effort, and for our member brands, it will remain a top priority long beyond Alliance's departure," he added.
"The US Embassy in Dhaka applauds the achievements of Alliance, and will continue to strongly support the brands' efforts to monitor safety and empower workers in their factories," the Alliance statement also said quoting US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller. "With this work, Alliance has set a standard for the industry to follow in Bangladesh," Mr. Miller was also quoted as saying.
According to the Alliance's annual report, nearly 1.6 million workers have been trained to protect themselves in case of fire emergency, and the platform has developed local training partners to expand the training beyond the Alliance-affiliated factories.
