H&M: Keep Your Safety Promise!
May 3, 2016
Dear H&M Store Manager:
Three years ago, on April 24, 2013, 1134 workers were killed in the deadliest disaster in the history of the global garment industry. The collapse of Rana Plaza, a building in Bangladesh that housed five factories producingclothes for global fashion brands, could have been prevented if the brands,and the factories they use, had donebasic safety checks and repairs.
In May 2013,just weeksafter thishorrific tragedy, H&M became the first company to sign the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, a legally-binding agreement to bring supplier factories into compliance with national and international building standards.H&M is the largest buyer of made-in-Bangladesh clothing, sourcing from 255 factories in the country, and labor rights advocates worldwide applauded its decision to take this step.
Under the terms of the Accord, all of H&M’s supplier factories in Bangladesh have been inspected for structural, fire, and electrical safety by qualified engineers, with an unprecedented level of transparency. These inspections uncovered safety violations in every single factory. In signing the Accord, H&M also committed itself to ensuring the necessary renovations in its supplier factories were carried out in a timely manner. However, according to research by the Clean Clothes Campaign, International Labor Rights Forum, Maquila Solidarity Network, and Worker Rights Consortium, the majority of H&M’s strategic suppliers still lack adequate fire exits.
On and around May 3, as H&M’s leadership and shareholders gather for the company’s Annual General Meeting, concerned consumers are urging H&M to keep its safety promise and pay to fix up the factories that make its clothes, before any more workers are killed or injured.
The outstanding renovations include the installation of fire-proof doors, the removal of sliding doors or collapsible gates from fire exits, and the enclosure of stairwells. Until these renovations are completed at all H&M suppliers, many workers may be unable to safely exit their factory in an emergency.The latest of these emergencies was a huge fire in February 2016 at Matrix Sweaters factory, an H&M supplier. Luckily, the fire occurred about an hour before workers were set to start their shifts, and so there weren’t many injuries. Not all workers at H&M supplier factories have been so lucky: In 2010, 21 workers died in a fire at H&M supplier Garib & Garib, which lacked proper fire exits.
Please let H&M corporate headquarters know that we were here today, calling on H&M to ensure the required safety renovations at its suppliers in Bangladesh so that there are no more Matrix Sweaters, Garib & Garibs or Rana Plazas.
Sincerely,