The Bangladesh government has launched a new web database for the Department of Inspection of Factories and Establishment that will disclose inspection details for 3,497 ready-made garment factories in Bangladesh.
For Bangladesh, establishing the database was one step toward its commitments made under the National Tripartite Action Plan of Action on Fire Safety.
The Tripartite plan, backed by the International Labour Organization (ILO), was developed in response to the Tazreen factory fire that killed more than 100 garment workers in Bangladesh. The purpose of the plan was to take comprehensive action to avoid further fires, tragedy and loss of life.
The ILO has since been working with Bangladesh’s Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) toward improving conditions in the ready-made garment (RMG) industry and provided key support in the preparation of the online factory database.
In order to provide a basis for reinstating its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits, the U.S. government asked that Bangladesh take a series of actions, one of which was to establish this publicly accessible database of all RMG and knitwear factories.
The database will provide transparent information about the inspection department’s actions and goals. It will also report labor, fire and building inspection findings, offer info on the factories and their locations, and, details about any violations, fines or sanctions will be made available.
Srinivas B. Reddy, country director for ILO Bangladesh, said at the inauguration ceremony for the new database, “Launching of the website of the Department of Inspection of Factories and Establishment’ and the database of RMG Sector is a milestone in achieving the commitments of the National Tripartite Plan of Action. This is only the beginning and I hope that gradually more information on RMG Sector will be incorporated in the database.”