Major brands have decided to improve conditions at their factories in Bangladesh. These include Primark, H&M, Zara and Massimo Dutti.

The agreement will cover more than 1000 factories in Bangladesh and up to two million garment workers. The agreement adds protection for workers who lobby for safer working conditions and extends factory inspections to cover spinning mills as well as washing and dying facilities.

Bangladesh is home to about four million garment workers, who make cheap, throwaway fashion items and household goods for export to big-name stores. Many of the factories draw criticism for offering a regime of scant worker rights, lax safety standards, long hours and poor pay.

A culture of throwaway fashion means stores put value over quality and sell overly cheap clothes to wealthy consumers at a high cost to the people who make them.

Global fashion retailers say they have come together to protect workers in developing nations and ensure the safety of buildings. There has also been legislation to ensure greater supply chain transparency.

The previous Bangladesh Accord, signed in 2013, paved the way for fire, electrical and structural safety inspections in more than 1,500 factories and set out plans for the installation of fire doors and stronger buildings.

But nearly four years on, more than 80 per cent of factories are running late on renovations.