About Us

VISION

AIM

Our mission is to sustain and continuously develop a safe, humane and sustainable Bangladeshi RMG industry in a tri-partite approach, including industry, unions and brands, by jointly implementing a sectorial safety standard minimising health peril and preventing avoidable accidents and empowering factory management and workers through training and capacity building.

The specific objectives of the RSC are:

1. To promote, govern and oversee the implementation of Occupational Safety and Health standards and to verify the compliance with applicable safety standards in the RMG and related industries in Bangladesh especially in the areas of Structural Integrity, Electrical Safety, Fire & Life Safety and Boiler Safety.

2. To conduct inspections in the areas of structural, electrical, fire & life safety and boiler safety as well as inspections to investigate safety complaints, and special inspections following Safety Committee findings and industrial accidents, and eventually regarding industrial relations, skills development, and environmental standards; to monitor, verify and recognise remediation.

3. To maintain and further develop an extensive fire and building safety training programme to provide extensive and detailed training on Occupational Safety and Health in the factories.

4. To cover effective safety procedures and precautions, as well as enable workers to voice concerns and actively participate in activities to ensure their own safety and to develop a depository of know-how and information regarding existing safety hazards for the industry.

5. To promote, adopt and require compliance with existing or future national and international laws, regulations and standards for fire and building safety applicable for the RMG and other industries in Bangladesh, also through relationships with national and international stakeholders.

6. To maintain and further develop a publicly accessible database with regularly updated aggregated list of all suppliers in Bangladesh with specific details about factory safety standards, inspection reports, remediation status and other relevant non-competitive issues.

7. To supervise exporting RMG industry and related factories and permanently monitor safety, compliance, and sustainability of existing and new factories and to provide recognition of safe workplaces for garment employers and employees.

8. To maintain and further develop a worker complaint mechanism operating with independence and free from interference from in-and-outside RSC, ensuring that workers from factories can raise concerns about safety and health risks in a timely fashion, safely and confidentially. To provide for quick and effective remedy protecting anonymity, real and perceived impartiality, protection from reprisal and independent decision-making in complaint resolutions.

9. To promote better Industrial Relations (IR), Skills Development, Welfare and Environmental Sustainability, Pollution Control, and other Climate Positive Initiatives.

10. To appoint qualified Safety Officers and support staff as required to implement the RSC programme, and to appoint a Board of Directors, Advisory Council, an Executive Committee and other necessary subcommittees to support the RSC governance and implementation of its programmes.

RSC Key Features

• Brands are in legal agreement with Unions and have a commitment to ensure safety remediation of their producing business partners is financially feasible and completed

• Transparent escalation process for Non-compliant Factories

• World-class permanent national initiative for garment factory Safety Inspections & Remediation Programmes

• Full public disclosure of inspection reports & corrective action plans

• Safety Committee and Safety Training Programme delivered by NEBOSH certified trainers

• Impartial Worker Occupational Safety and Health Complaints Mechanism

• Protection against retaliation for reporting safety-related matters

• Protection of right to refuse unsafe work

• Ongoing promotion of Right to Freedom of Association (FoA) to advance safety

• Training and Complaints Protocol to cover (FoA) rights

• Optional listing of home textiles and fabric & knit accessory suppliers

• Boiler Safety Inspection Programme

 

Messages from Board of Directors

 

“The RSC is an unprecedented national initiative and through our collective efforts with the brands and trade unions we will make sure that Bangladesh remains one of the safest countries to source RMG products from.”

— Rubana Huq
     Former President of the BGMEA and industry representative on the RSC Board of Directors

 

“Together with our Bangladeshi trade union affiliates we will help ensure workers in RMG factories have safe workplaces and have access to remedy to address safety concerns and exercise the right to safe workplaces. We will work to ensure that workers to have trust in the newly established RSC.”

— China Rahman
    General Secretary of the IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC)

 

“The RSC’s model of trade unions, the industry and brands driving workplace safety together, through a transparent, competent and efficient organization on the ground, is ambitious and best in class. A lot has been accomplished but there is also a lot more still to be done.”

— Masarrat Quader Syeda
     Regional Public Affairs and Stakeholder Engagement Manager, H&M Group, based in Bangladesh (covering Africa and Asia)

 

 

RSC CO-CHAIRS

 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

 

NEUTRAL CONVENER

 

LEADERSHIP TEAM

 

 

SENIOR MANAGEMENT

 

 

STAFF