DHAKA: The world renowned retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said that the environment of readymade garments factories of Bangladesh has been developed comparatively than the earlier.

On behalf of Wal-Mart, Bureau Veritas made the report after conducting survey on 75 factories in Bangladesh.

Bureau Veritus, a global leader in Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC), signed a deal with Wal-Mart to assess the safety standards in Bangladesh garment factories. And this was it’s first report which mentioned a good number of garments developed the environment of their factories to ensure safety of their workers and employees.

The report said that 54.17 percent factories required average electricity improvement, 40.91 percent in average building safety.  And 34 factories have upgraded themselves from category D and C to A/B.

Wal-Mart said it will release results for other factories as the inspections are completed.

The report also said that Wal-Mart is promised to develop and reform of the garment industry. But Bangladesh has to do many things for long lasting change in this sector.

In November 2012, more than 100 people died in a fire at the Tazreen Fashions factory outside Dhaka. The Rana Plaza factory collapse in April 2013 killed 1,132 garment workers and injured more than 2,500.

These disasters led retailers that contract with factories in Bangladesh to pledge to ramp up safety efforts with any factories that produce clothing for stores in the U.S. The safety audit by Wal-Mart was one of those efforts.

BDST: 1234 HRS, NOV 20, 2013
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