Accord Alliance Bangladesh Worker Safety

by Engr. Kh. Mashiur Rahman | Oct 13, 2016 | Compliance

Accord Alliance Bangladesh Safety

Accord Alliance Bangladesh -Audit Programs of alliance for bangladesh worker safety by Accord & Alliance team, to appraise the building, Electrical and fire Safety, are being carried out in all the member factories of BGMEA and already approximately 400 factories have been audited. On the Other hand as a routine procedure Safety audit under social compliance are also being carried out by the buyers. Accord is carrying out these audits based on BNBC Standards. On the other hand buyer’s routine audits are being carried out based on BNBC, local laws & rules, Fire Service defense Acts etc.

In certain instances due to conflicting issues relating to set standards between local laws, fire service and civil defenses & BNBC laws, factories are facing confusion & decision problems.

Accord Audit Team has advised to refrain from taking any sort of corrective/remidial measures before getting their formal report. According to them if corrective measures are carried out without knowing their observation and decision the whole process may have to be repeated again which will be a wastage of time and money.

While Accord Alliance is advising to go for corrective measure only after getting their reports buyers are serving notice for stoppage of work if there is noncompliance of safety issues of social audits at a short notice or no time.

Due to these conflicting situations it has become extremely difficult to run the business .To solve this problem we are hereby requesting to stop the safety part of the social audit.

SERIAL SHIPPING CONTAINER CODE (SSCC) LABELS

SSCC Label Format: Effective 6/15 CRD shipments, True Alliance requires Vendors to be Serial Shipping Carton Code (SSCC) label compliant and to provide an electronic Advanced Shipping Notification (ASN) for each Purchase Order.

SSCC compliance Applicable for all Sea freight Modes

Airfreight is currently not in scope for SSCC compliance.

SSCC label printing and electronic Advanced Shipping Notification (ASN) Process: Vendor will use NGC to print True Alliance SSCC label based on existing label printing process.  The label print program needs to be updated in order to print this SSCC label. We will keep vendors updated as soon as it is ready for upgrade. Please stay tuned.

Factory ASN will be sent to DHL when vendor clicks on ‘Factory Release’ in NGC (see the steps in Appendices section).

The container number will be given by DHL 1 day before ETD (Vessel Sailing Date). Vendor is required to fill out all shipment information accurately with correct container number and click on ‘Factory Release’ by ETD (Vessel Sailing Date). All data entered in NGC for ‘Factory Release’ must be correct and same as final booking. Vendor needs to inform DHL origin once ‘Factory Release’ is completed.

SSCC Label Placement and Location: True Alliance requires Vendors to be SSCC Label Compliant.

• All vendors must be SSCC compliant by orders from CRD 15^th Jun, 2015 onwards.
• Applicable for Cargo loaded from Ports in: China, Hong Kong, South East Asia, India, and Bangladesh.

The SSCC barcode must be applied at an individual carton level. Only one SSCC per carton is required.

For cartons and outer cases, SSCC labels should be placed on either side of the carton so that the lowest edges of the bars of the GS1-128 Bar Code containing the SSCC are 32mm from the base of the unit. The SSCC barcode, including the quiet zone, must be 20mm from the carton edge.

Upon this new procedure of SSCC label started, therefore, the barcode sticker originally stick on carton outside is no longer needed.

Appendices for Accord Alliance Bangladesh

Accord Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety Letter

Sub: To withhold the safety part from social compliance audit.

Dear Sir,

This is to advise you that ACCORD & Alliance is carrying out building, fire & electrical safety audits. ACCORD Audits team has advised to refrain from any corrective action/remedial action before getting their audit report. They advised that it will be a mistake if corrective actions mentioned in their report are not addressed to and for this a repeat work might be required which will cost money. There may be chance of duplicity for the demands for Accord & Social Audit.

While ACCORD /Alliance is suggesting to go for correction action only after getting  their report Buyers are stopping work with short/no time notice for noncompliance of the safety part of their social audit. Due to this conflicting situation it has become very difficult to run the business. To solve the problem we are requesting to withheld the safety part of Buyers social Audit.

Thank You

Yours Sincerely,

On Behalf of all sister concern of Auto Group

More Letter

Dear Alliance Factory,

Our company, COMPANY NAME, is a member of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety. The Alliance is a group of 27 apparel companies that are deeply committed to ensuring safe working conditions in Bangladeshi RMG factories. Through the Alliance, we and the other members are collaborating on core programs and activities that include: factory assessments (against the Alliance’s Fire and Electrical Safety and Building Integrity Standards), fire safety training for workers and management, and management of a Worker Support Program (to assist temporarily displaced workers if factories must be closed for safety reasons). Over the next few months, you will receive more detailed information about the Alliance’s programs, activities, and resources as we move into the implementation phase.

The Alliance opened its Dhaka office in December 2014, and currently has 15 staff, with more to join soon. On behalf of its 26 member companies, the Alliance Dhaka staff will coordinate and oversee all Alliance activities and will be an important, helpful resource for you.

A member of the Alliance Dhaka office will be contacting you shortly—by phone and/or email—to talk about the Alliance and request and/or verify basic information about your factory, such as factory address, primary contact, number of workers, etc. This information will be used for all future communications and to maintain an updated Alliance factory list (published each month) and database. As the Alliance Dhaka staff is contacting you on behalf of our company (and other buyers that are part of the Alliance), we request that you kindly provide him/her with the information requested in a timely manner. If you are not comfortable providing the information requested over the phone, you may request to do so via email.

Going forward, you should expect to receive communication from the Alliance Dhaka staff regarding factory assessment scheduling, remediation, training, events, meetings, and more. We will remain very much engaged in all activities, and welcome you to contact us if you have questions or concerns about the role of the Alliance Dhaka office. We can assure you that the Alliance staff are working on behalf of, in consultation with, and with the support of its membership, and appreciate your cooperation with them.

Lastly, if you would like to reach out to the Alliance office, you may contact:Accord Alliance for bangladesh worker safety team for Accord Alliance Bangladesh