Inspection tensions add to Bangladesh garment industry s woes

A worker works in a factory of Ananta Garments Ltd in tour vietnam and cambodia Savar
Thomson Reuters




By Nandita Bose

DHAKA (Reuters) - It took Western safety inspectors only about an hour to cambodia vietnam tour package a factory the size of three football fields before ordering a partial shutdown of Sonia & Sweaters Ltd, a Bangladesh clothing supplier to Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Debenhams .

Two weeks later, the group that the inspectors represented changed its mind and allowed the factory escorted tours to vietnam and cambodia stay open, even though none of the repairs they suggested had been carried out.

Such erratic decision-making poses a new set of problems for Bangladesh's $22 billion garments industry, whose safety record has been under the microscope since the collapse of a factory near Dhaka that killed more than 1,100 workers last year.

More than a year after the public outcry that spurred Western retailers into demanding better standards from the factories that make their clothes, it also highlights the practical complexities of improving the conditions of millions of poor workers whilst also safeguarding their jobs.