The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, which represents Canadian Tire Corp., L.L.Bean, VF Corp. and 25 other apparel brands, officially suspended three additional factories for failure to show evidence of remediation progress, according to reports. The Alliance has now cut ties with a total of 83 factories to date.
The Alliance says it performs independent inspections on the structural, electrical and fire safety of all factories from which its members source. Each factory is then provided with a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) designed to help it address safety issues and achieve compliance with Alliance safety standards. The Alliance also provides technical advice and access to low-cost loans to assist factories with remediation.
“Ensuring worker safety is our top priority,” said Alliance Country Director Jim Moriarty. “Factories with which we do business must undertake repairs in order to meet our safety standards, or they lose their right to make garments for our member companies, without exception.”
Now at the halfway point of its five-year initiative, the Alliance is on track to remediate all critical safety issues in its active factories by 2018. To date, half of all safety issues in Alliance factories have been corrected and 28 factories have completed all necessary repairs outlined in their Corrective Action Plans, two years ahead of schedule.
More information on our suspension process as well as a complete list of suspended factories can be found on the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety website.
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