Wal-Mart audit finds 15% of Bangladesh factories unsafe

Wal MartThe initial round of safety inspections by Wal-Mart in Bangladesh has shown that more than 15 per cent of the factories in Bangladesh failed their safety tests.

The partner firms had to made changes in order to keep doing businesses with the world's largest retailer. The retailer said that most of the three dozen factories were able to address concerns or is in the process of making changes to incorporate the safety measures. The retailer said that one of the factories had to knock down an illegally built eighth floor building in the premises.

The retailer also said that it cancelled contracts with two factories that failed the safety audits were not able to make necessary changes while another had to shut down completely. Wal-Mart will release the results of 75 inspections on its website and add other results as they are conducted. The company currently does business with more than 200 factories in Bangladesh and has said that it will inspect all of them and will begin publishing results of inspections.

Wal-Mart has become the first major retailer to conduct such inspections of all of its partner manufactures in the south Asian nation.