Zalando renews its membership in the International Accord on Fire and Building Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry

We have renewed our membership of the International Accord on Fire and Building Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry. By participating in this global initiative, Zalando demonstrates its commitment to the improvement of the safety and well-being of workers in the industry.

The International Accord on Fire and Building Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry is a legally binding agreement signed by leading fashion brands, retailers, and trade unions to improve working conditions and safety measures in textile and garment factories around the world. This accord was created in response to the tragic Rana Plaza building collapse, which claimed the lives of more than 1,100 garment workers.

We interviewed David Reiner, Lead Ethical Sourcing, to learn more about Zalando's commitment.

What is the situation after 10 years of the Rana Plaza disaster? What has changed in the industry?

The Rana Plaza disaster was the wake up call everyone wishes the industry had not needed.
But there have been a lot of developments in the last ten years. Since 2014, there have been 2.400 factory visits resulting in 56.000 inspections. Over 140.000 individual findings in the three inspected areas: fire, structural and electrical safety - have been identified and closed, which translates to a remediation rate of 91%. The factories Zalando sourced from in Bangladesh had 99% of their initial findings resolved.

Equally important elements of the Accord are the safety training all workers get from local trainers to prepare them adequately for work in an industrial environment. The Accord states that “more than 2 million garment workers have been informed about the most common factory safety hazards, about their right to refuse unsafe work, the role of the safety committees, safe evacuations, and the Accord complaints mechanism”.

This Complaint and Grievance mechanism is a benchmark for all industries and a very clear best practice. Having the concerns of workers processed by professional locals at an independent organization is something we explicitly support as a key element for effective advancement of the working conditions in our industry. Giving workers, the stakeholder with the least leverage within the production process, a voice and protection is an important step to address issues beyond audit reports.

Why is the Accord so important for the industry and for Zalando?

We support the Accord as an independent, credible, effective and scalable solution to drive positive impact in the fashion industry when it comes to key challenges like Occupational Health and Safety and giving workers a voice. We also value the close cooperation with the witness signatories, the International Labor Organization (ILO), IndustriALL Global Union and various other civil society organizations. We believe in collaborative approaches and understand our responsibilities in the industry, and welcome dialogue to develop impactful solutions with the Accord being a prime example of this.

On an operational level, the Accord sets a benchmark for transparency, as all data about factory findings and the respective remediation statuses are made public and thereby available to anyone who considers sourcing from Bangladesh.

What goals does Zalando aim to achieve by signing the Pakistan Accord?

We firmly believe the Accord to be a lighthouse for the safety of workers in the textile and garment supply chains. Signing the Pakistan extension of the now ‘International Accord’, for us means explicitly supporting the international focus of the organization. Where the original “Bangladesh Accord” was clearly focused on one country, the Accord now has become the independent and effective player for credible occupational health and safety in garment factories. Not only does it make the factories we source from measurably safer, it also functions as a best practice for the industry, in that we hope to get even more traction in the future.

The international Accord is a key part of our Human Rights Due Diligence Strategy and we will continue to support its growing scope and establishment as a global partner in a more responsible fashion industry. We hope the Accord will expand to more countries in which the Occupational Health and Safety situation in textile and garment factories is an issue. We fully support the organization in advancing workers rights and safety in the industry and are happy such a great partner exists for brands, retailers, factories, workers and civil society organizations. In the future, we want to further the excellent relations we have with the Accord and embrace the responsibility we have as Europe's largest online fashion store and are in constant conversations with the Accord, as well as other civil society organizations, to contribute to the generational task of a more sustainable and more just fashion industry.