History, creation, founding organizations

September 2012 near Karachi, Pakistan, the Ali Entreprises shoe manufacturing plant suffers a fire that kills 315 people and injures nearly 250. Initial findings revealed that the factory had undergone a social compliance audit three weeks earlier, and that no non-conformities had been identified. However, it was found that the electrical installation was deficient, that the emergency exits were closed and padlocked, and that the windows were barred. The origin of the fire was established as a boiler explosion.

April 2013, on the outskirts of Dakha in Bangladesh, the eight-storey building housing the RANA factory, where garments for major Western brands were manufactured, collapsed. The toll was 1,127 dead and almost 2,500 injured. Initial findings revealed that the eight-storey building was not designed to house a factory and heavy production equipment, and that...