Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety announced the end of its tenure in Bangladesh in its fifth and final annual report. The Alliance terminated 178 factories from its compliant factory list due to lack of progress in ensuring a safe working condition. The report also said that pace of corrective action plans (CAP) were accelerated in last two years as many factories that began operations several years ago would go near completion of remediation. The incomplete remediation works would be accomplished by December

Following the Rana Plaza building collapse in April 24, 2013, garment workers, North American buyers and retailers formed the Alliance undertaking a five-year plan, which set timeframes and accountability for inspections, trainings and worker empowerment programs in Bangladesh’s readymade garment sector. In these past five years, the Alliance, member brands and owners of Alliance-affiliated factories achieved unprecedented progress toward the goal of improving safety in Bangladesh’s ready-made garment industry, while simultaneously helping to solidify Bangladesh’s standing as a global leader in garment exports.

Beginning in 2019, most Alliance member brands plan to work through a local organisation to collectively monitor safety in the factories from which they source. The Alliance report said more than 1.6 million workers, security guards and factory managers were trained—and retrained—in fire safety. The Alliance’s 24-hour confidential worker helpline reached more than 1.5 million workers which had already been transferred to local management under Phulki and would soon be available to RMG factories throughout Bangladesh.