Complaint to Business Social Compliance Initiative also raises concerns about its certification system
Certificates attesting to safety and working conditions in the textile industry are good for a corporation’s image but are of little use to those working in global production and supply chains. This was made all too clear by the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex in Dhaka (Bangladesh) which killed more than 1,130 people and left more than 2.500 injured on 24 April 2013. German technical inspection company TÜV Rheinland audited the Phantom Apparel Ltd. production facilities just a few months before the catastrophe. The German certification company failed to address building safety and construction flaws and a number of other problems were not inspected adequately. TÜV Rheinland was appointed as auditor by a member of the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI). The BSCI is a corporate platform based in part on the standards of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and is supposed inter alia to monitor and improve safety and working conditions in production countries...