Make RMG factory inspection reports public, says HRW

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called upon the government to disclose the findings of ongoing apparel factory safety inspections carried out by the government and other groups to help the workers know actual conditions of their workplaces.
Releasing the latest report titled 'Release Factory Inspection Reports' dated May 27, the New York-based rights group said the reports should be published both in Bangla and English to make those accessible to the workers. The HRW released the report on its official website (www.hrw.org).
It said Bangladesh government and retailers, who have been conducting safety inspections in the apparel factories, have committed to release details of their findings after the Rana Plaza tragedy but largely failed to make those public.
After the tragic Rana Plaza building collapse in which more than 1100 workers died last year, the Bangladesh government and western retailers are engaged in inspecting more than 3,500 garment factories for structural integrity and fire and electrical safety.
But more than one year after the deadly disaster, reports on fewer than 40 factories have been published so far by nongovernmental groups. The government has published no report on the inspections that it has carried out, the statement said.
"Efforts to make the Bangladesh garment industry safer and protect the rights of workers will not succeed unless details of all factory inspections are made public," said Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director. "Workers need this information so they can make informed decisions about whether it is safe to enter their factories," he added.
The report said the Bangladesh government is responsible for inspecting about 1,500 factories, many of which do sub-contracting work. Some are in shared buildings and are believed by experts to be the most at risk.
In a programme supported by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and funded by the European Union (EU), the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) experts have already inspected more than 250 of these factories.
The government and ILO have set up a website to publish the inspection data, but to date nothing has been published, it said.
Quoting a spokesman of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, the statement said no decision has yet been taken when the results of the investigations by BUET would be made public.
Mentioning the inspection of the Alliance, it said the group of 26 North American retailers, who are inspecting about 680 factories, has recently published the details of fire, structural, and electrical safety inspections of 28 factories.
"All of the factories require remedial work," it said adding that the reports are in English, and include some photographs.
According to the Alliance website, details have also been shared with workers and their representatives, but Bangla versions of the reports have not been made public or posted on the Internet.
Citing a press conference of the Managing Director of the Alliance, Rabin Mesbah, on May 16, it said the managing director said that 10 to 15 reports will be released each month.
The Accord, formed by 175 mainly European retailers, is currently inspecting 1,545 factories. They are signatories to the legally binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety. This has made public details of ten factory inspections. The reports, which are designed to be easily understood by workers, are written in Bangla as well as in English, and include photographs.
The reports state that all the ten factories inspected have safety problems that still need to be addressed. Some factories inspected by the Accord engineers have been forced to shut due to serious structural problems. An Accord spokesperson told the HRW that more reports will soon be posted on the Internet, said the statement.
The HRW report said as a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Bangladesh is bound by article 7 that everyone has the right to "just and favourable conditions of work" which ensure, among other things, "safe and healthy working conditions."
Historically, factory inspections conducted in Bangladesh by either the government or retailers have been kept confidential, it said adding such inspections, whether based on labour law or retailers' codes of conduct, appear to have done little to prevent violations of labour rights, including harassment and firing of unionists, or reduce workplace accidents, factory fires, and structure collapses.
"Ensuring workers know their rights, and can refuse work in an unsafe building, would be the most fitting tribute to the sacrifices made by workers at Rana Plaza," Robertson said. "Worker safety will benefit if the Bangladesh garment industry becomes more open and transparent," he added.
The just-released statement of the HRW said it interviewed 47 workers in 21 factories, including some that were inspected by the Accord and the Alliance, in late 2013. The workers claimed that some managers intimidate and mistreat employees involved in setting up unions, including threats to kill them.
Mentioning feedbacks of the interviewed union organisers, it said they were beaten up, and others said they had lost their jobs or had been forced to resign. Factory owners sometimes used local gangsters to threaten or attack workers outside the workplace, including at their homes. Many female workers said they received threats or insults of a sexual nature.
"Independent trade unions are key to ensuring that workers are not mistreated or forced to work in unsafe factories," Robertson said. "The government needs to make sure that these anti-union activities are stopped immediately," he noted.