Employee Health + Safety in Bangladesh

Manufacturing in Bangladesh

We work with three cut and sew facilities in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Export Zone, who are considered preferred employers in the region. As part of our ongoing assessment process, inspections of the facilities were completed in September 2013 by a commissioned third party, and again in April 2014 and July 2015 by our in-house team. We are in regular dialogue with these manufacturing partners to support them in their continuous improvement. 

Addressing issues

Following the April 2013 Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh, two industry-led initiatives were created to address fire and building safety: the Accord on Fire and Building Safety and the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety. 

The intent of both agreements is to raise the standard for conducting business in Bangladesh, which is something we fully believe in. However, at this time, we’ve decided not to sign on to either agreement because we have already put the Accord and Alliance’s principles into practice through our Vendor Code of Ethics program. 

Our vendor code of ethics

Our VCoE applies to all countries where our products are manufactured, including Bangladesh, and ensures that our partners follow a single set of policies, regardless of legal and cultural differences. Two of the three facilities we work with in Bangladesh have been our global partners for over five years, and all are operated by companies that have facilities in other countries as well. Our preference is to enable those partners to employ our same high standards across all facilities. 

Our VCoE was developed based on industry-recognized best practices and has tool that guides facility assessments. It addresses fire and building safety in addition to many other elements related to employee health and safety. Some examples of what other elements it includes are: wages, working hours, employee health and safety, benefits and more. We have a comprehensive set of fire and building safety requirements in our VCoE and have worked with a third party consultant to enhance our approach.

Learn more about our zero tolerance policies and our assessment process