On April 23, 2013, large cracks were reported in the Rana Plaza building in Savar, near Dhaka. Some businesses closed, but garment workers were instructed to return to work the next day despite the visible damage. This set the immediate conditions for the disaster that followed.
On April 24, 2013, the eight-story Rana Plaza building collapsed while thousands of people were inside, including workers in multiple garment factories. The collapse killed more than 1,100 people and injured thousands more, becoming a defining crisis for the global apparel supply chain. It exposed how international sourcing pressures can combine with weak building oversight and poor workplace protections.
Search and rescue efforts continued for weeks, with survivors pulled from the rubble days after the collapse. The official rescue phase ended on May 13, 2013, and the final confirmed death toll was widely reported as 1,134. The long rescue period kept global attention on Bangladesh’s garment sector and accelerated demands for enforceable safety reforms.
On May 15, 2013, global brands and retailers and trade unions signed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. Unlike many earlier corporate codes of conduct, it was designed as a legally binding agreement with independent inspections and public reporting. It became a central reform mechanism influencing how buyers managed supplier safety after Rana Plaza.
In 2013, a group of major North American retailers formed the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety. The Alliance created a separate five-year factory inspection and remediation program, covering hundreds of factories supplying its member companies. Together, the Accord and Alliance made factory electrical, fire, and structural risks a shared supply-chain responsibility rather than a purely local issue.
In July 2013, Bangladesh, the European Commission, the United States, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) agreed to a “Sustainability Compact” action plan. The Compact set time-bound steps to improve labor rights and factory safety, aiming to keep international pressure focused beyond the initial news cycle. It connected trade relationships and reputational risk to measurable reform commitments.
In July 2013, Bangladesh adopted amendments to its labor law under intense domestic and international pressure. Worker-rights monitors noted that the changes addressed some issues but still left important gaps, including barriers to union registration and organizing. The reforms showed that supply-chain change would depend not only on brands, but also on national labor rules and enforcement capacity.
In November 2013, Bangladesh announced a major increase in the garment-sector minimum wage to 5,300 taka per month, effective December 1, 2013. The change followed labor unrest and intensified scrutiny after Rana Plaza. While wage levels remained debated, the increase marked a concrete policy response that affected the economics of apparel sourcing and factory operations.
In January 2014, the ILO established the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund to collect and hold contributions for compensation awards to victims and families. The target was set at US$30 million based on claims and benefit calculations. The fund created a more structured, multi-stakeholder approach to compensation than ad hoc brand donations.
In 2014, Better Work Bangladesh launched as a joint ILO–IFC (International Finance Corporation) program supporting improved working conditions and factory management. It combined assessments, advisory support, and training, aiming to raise compliance with labor standards in a large export industry. The program reflected a shift toward ongoing supply-chain monitoring rather than one-time audits.
In June 2015, the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund reached its US$30 million target after prolonged pressure on brands and retailers to contribute. Reaching the target enabled compensation awards to be fully funded under the agreed framework. The episode also highlighted how difficult it can be to secure remedy (payments for harm) across complex, international supply chains.
As the original five-year Accord approached its end, global unions and brand representatives began organizing renewal commitments for a successor agreement often referred to as “Accord 2018.” The renewal debate reflected two competing pressures: keep independent oversight strong, while also moving responsibilities toward national institutions. This transition planning became a key test of whether reforms would last beyond emergency response.
On July 1, 2018, the Transition Accord (often described as the 2018 Accord) was signed to continue key safety functions after the original Accord’s term. The agreement aimed to maintain independent inspections and remediation while supporting a gradual handover to Bangladesh’s Remediation Coordination Cell (RCC). This was a pivotal step from short-term crisis measures toward longer-term governance.
In December 2018, reports described the Accord starting to hand over fully remediated factories to the RCC, Bangladesh’s national initiative for safety follow-up. This handover signaled a closing phase of the 2013–2018 reform period: safety oversight was increasingly expected to be institutionalized locally rather than led by external buyer-driven programs. The transition also raised ongoing questions about enforcement capacity and long-term accountability.
Rana Plaza Collapse and Reforms in the Global Apparel Supply Chain (2013–2018)