About the Fire & Safety Building Agreement
After the terrible building collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Wednesday April 24 our thoughts go out to all who are affected by the tragic accident. None of the textile factories located in the building produced for H&M, however this is one of our most prioritized questions right now and we are working at full speed to reach the best solution together with other stakeholders.
On April 29, H&M, other international buyers, NGOs and stakeholders gathered in a meeting arranged by GIZ and IndustryAll regarding the new initiative on fire & building safety in Bangladesh. The content of the Fire & Safety Building Agreement is currently being discussed by all concerned stakeholders, including H&M. The draft has changed several times during the past two weeks. This is taking time because there are many brands and stakeholders that must agree. The deadline to commit is 15 May.
We appreciate the commitment among our customers regarding this matter. It shows us that social responsibility is taken seriously everywhere and it strengthens us in our work with these questions. H&M is now in a very intense phase of discussions both with our internal organization and with industryAll and other stakeholders. As with all agreements it is a matter of discussing details and agreeing on something that everyone finds reasonable and workable, while ensuring that we all have the same purpose in mind, which is to improve and secure the safety of the workers in the garment industry in Bangladesh.
H&M does not allow any residential buildings to be used for the garment industry. To ensure building and fire safety in Bangladesh H&M took a decision in 2009 to not allow any shared buildings. The fact that this was not our suppliers’ factory does not mean that we are not engaged in the process of contributing to constructive solutions.
Our Code of Conduct contains the requirements that we place on all of our suppliers and their subcontractors. H&M always checks that the buildings are approved by concerned government authorities. We also check that the numbers of floors are correct. Furthermore, if there are new floors they must also be approved by the concerned government authorities. The Chief Factory Inspector must approve the floors and layout plan of the building. The floor layout plan specifies, among other things, what areas are approved for what use.
Fire safety is an extremely important issue to H&M. This is why we have put a lot of effort into the education of suppliers. Primarily, it is the local governments responsibility to ensure that the Fire Department and Electrical Department have the capacity to issue relevant licenses and monitor the electrical installations in the factories. We as a buyer must ensure that our suppliers follow both the statutory regulations and H&Ms own requirements regarding fire safety. Both when we audit existing and potential new suppliers, fire safety is an important factor evaluated in our factory audits. To be accepted as an H&M supplier the factory must have emergency exits, fire alarm installed on a separate power line and connected to its own generator, emergency lights, fire extinguishers, evacuation plans and minutes of fire evacuation drills. In addition to the audit at the factory, H&M also checks that the supplier has the relevant licenses for conducting business, including fire safety.
In 2011, we introduced an education to increase fire safety awareness amongst our suppliers and their employees. This helps the workers to know how to act in case of fire and helps management to understand how to set up a safe infrastructure and systems to fight and prevent fire. H&M also contacted various other brands and together with 18 of them, we launched this education module in collaboration with the most important employer associations in the garment sector. This is reaching out to all of the approximately 4,500 exporting garment factories in Bangladesh. Approximately 3 million workers will receive the education through 2013. Collaborating with industry peers can help to increase the level of influence we have on a particular issue, as opposed to working alone which would have less influence. In this way, we hope to bring improvements in fire safety across the entire Bangladeshi garment industry.
It is important to remember that this disaster is an infrastructure problem in Bangladesh and not a problem specific to the textile industry. Many different stakeholders need to work together in order to find long lasting improvements. H&M is looking into how we, together with a joint force, can be an influence in this issue.