Certified but not safe: persistent structural, fire and electrical safety deficiencies in Accord-remediated RMG factories in Bangladesh
Debanjan Das, Mehnaz Fatima MonamyPurpose
This study aims to investigate the structural, electrical and fire safety flaws documented in the Corrective Action Plan (CAP) reports of Accord-certified RMG factories in Bangladesh, identifying prevalent deficiencies and patterns of cross-domain co-occurrence.
Design/methodology/approach
Content analysis of CAP reports from all 646 Accord-certified RMG factories was conducted using a 61-category inductive codebook. Flaw prevalence, risk-tier classification and within- and cross-domain Pearson correlations were analyzed to identify safety deficiency patterns and compound hazard configurations.
Findings
A total of 18,432 safety flaws were identified, with electrical issues accounting for 44.4%, fire hazards for 40.2% and structural problems for 15.4%. Cross-domain correlation analysis revealed a strong positive relationship between electrical and fire-related flaws. Notably, the absence of an emergency evacuation plan frequently co-occurred with exposed wiring, representing the strongest interaction between electrical and fire risks.
Research limitations/implications
The findings offer actionable guidance for safety regulators seeking compound-risk enforcement criteria, factory managers operating under resource constraints, international buyers assessing supplier compliance, and educators developing industry-relevant safety curricula.
Originality/value
This study provides comprehensive, multidomain empirical mapping of safety deficiencies in Accord-certified RMG factories, extending beyond structural assessments that have dominated prior research to integrate fire, electrical and cross-domain compound hazard analysis.