CNBC reported that inspectors found numerous safety hazards at the Bangladesh garment factory making shirts for Donald Trump’s apparel brand. The contract factory, known as Elite Garments Industries, violated standards mandated by the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, which was signed following the tragic Rana Plaza collapse in 2013.
In 2014, the accord-appointed safety inspectors found issues, such as support columns that were “highly stressed,” inadequate fire alarm systems, electrical problems and the potential for stairwells to fill up with smoke during a fire.
“The factory has numerous serious safety hazards that have not been corrected, even though deadlines for compelling the work are long past,” Scott Nova, executive director for the Workers Rights Consortion, told CNBC. “Any of these hazards has the potential to cause serious injury or death in a factory where almost 2,500 people work.”
The factory did, however, implement the majority of official’s suggestions, but Nova said that it has still ignored some of the most important steps, such as removing heavy items from areas supported by stressed columns.
Though the factory has not specifically violated Bangladeshi law, failing to meet the deadlines laid out by the accord can result in court enforcement.
