LONDON (Reuters) - Tesco , the world's No. 3 retailer, has stopped sourcing clothes from a factory in Bangladesh after discovering serious problems with the safety of a building, the conmpany said on Saturday.
The move follows a survey the British-based supermarket chain conducted in the wake of the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex in Dhaka in April that killed 1,129 people..
"A structural survey of a site we source from in Bangladesh, owned by Liberty Fashions, has revealed serious problems with the safety of one of the buildings," Tesco said in a statement.
"We immediately made the owners aware of our findings, and tried to find an alternative to ceasing production of Tesco products on this site. We are disappointed that this was not possible...
"Our concerns about the structure of this building are so serious that we decided our only option was to stop taking clothes from this site with immediate effect."
Tesco, which has promised to conduct structural surveys of all the factories it sources from, said it had urged the owners of the site to stop all production and to evacuate the premises to ensure the safety of its workers.
It had also informed the relevant authorities, other customers of the site and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BMGEA) of the survey results and its decision to stop sourcing from the site.
The retailer said it had stopped using 15 factories of concern in Bangladesh in the past 12 months.
Bangladesh has pledged to improve safety in the garment industry after the Rana Plaza collapse but has not pledged any new money to relocate dangerous buildings.
The collapse of Rana Plaza, a factory built on swampy ground outside Dhaka with several illegal floors, on April 24 ranks amongst the world's worst industrial accidents and has galvanised brands to look more closely at their suppliers.
Very low labour costs and, critics say, shortcuts on safety, makes the country of 160 million the cheapest place to make large quantities of clothing.
Companies are split over how to improve conditions. Big European names have signed an accord that would make them legally responsible for safety at Bangladesh factories. U.S. firms like Wal-Mart Stores Inc have broken ties with non-compliant factories.
Tesco stops sourcing from a Bangladesh factory due to safety concerns
60 percent of Bangladesh garment factories 'vulnerable to collapse', says survey
London, June 4 (ANI): A majority of garment factories in Bangladesh are in danger of collapse, according to a survey by engineers in the country.
The survey comes following the last month collapse of the Dhaka factory, in which more than 1000 people, mainly young women, making clothes for UK retailers such as Primark, were killed in one of the world's worst industrial accidents, the Guardian reports.
According to the report, the survey is the work of a team of engineers from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), who have surveyed so far a sixth of 600 buildings that house more than 3,000 clothes factories, as well as examining soil tests and original plans.
The report further said that the survey's revelations that three-fifths or 60 percent of garment factories in Bangladesh are vulnerable to collapse putting in risk the lives of millions of Bangladeshi workers, will concern western retailers which are now moving to improve security and conditions in the Bangladesh factories that supply their shops.
According to the report, two different agreements among western firms such as Primark, Walmart, Carrefour, HandM, Gap, Tesco are being negotiated to improve working conditions, under which, retailers can be theoretically committed to take measures that would prevent another tragedy, as well as providing funds for improvements.
Bangladesh is the world's second biggest supplier of clothes, of which more than 80 percent are exported to Europe or the US.
The 13 billion-pound industry employs about 3.5 million people, mainly young women, and is a major foreign currency earner for Bangladesh, the report added. (ANI)
60 percent of Bangladesh garment factories 'vulnerable to collapse', says survey