Around three weeks after the collapse of rana plaza, few of the world’s biggest apparel

retailers like H&M , Zara, Benetton, Marks & Spencer, Tesco came forward and agreed to
sign on a legal binding in order to help improving safety condition in the garments
industries of Bangladesh. Their agreement was that they would not hire or place orders to
any of the manufacturers whose factories doesn’t qualify to meet the safety standards and
commited to help pay for necessary repairs and renovatrions. The companies together
formed a safety inspections board that have inspected upto 5000 factories over two years
with results being made public. The agreement was made and signed for 5 years.

In my opinion this has really helped to make a difference and went quite far to get the
support from all over the world. The companies that have signed the agreement are few of
biggest companies of garments industry. And a very large portion of orders come to
Bangladeshi manufacturers from them. Once they have signed the agreement and got strict
about their inspections, many of the manufacturers became way more aware about the
safety concerns of factories and employees. Even if it was for the benefit of the
manufacturers themselves as they needed the retail orders from those companies to keep
the stability of earning , many of the factory owners came forward made sure their factories
qualify the safety standards, many owners have renovated their buildings and many have
shifted their factories to different and safer place. This was very apparent within the years
when the retailer companies signed up the agreement.

I think what the retailer companies like H&M,Zara,Tesco and others have done were very
significant and helpful. But alongside the agreement of them, I think the government itself
should have come forward along with those companies and help constructing a strict law to
ensure the safety of Bangladeshi factories. That would have pushed the owners even more
to be aware about the situation and help to make a change.