Supplier Briefing #10
These briefings are designed for all factories and suppliers listed by Pakistan Accord signatory brands. They include updates on key developments under the Pakistan Accord, along with information on upcoming events, guidance materials, and resources for suppliers.
We encourage all suppliers and factories covered by the Pakistan Accord to read these briefings and to share suggestions on what they would like to see in them by contacting us via pakistan.factories@internationalaccord.org.
This briefing includes updates on:
- Coverage: Signatory Brands, Factories, and Workers
- Program Rollout: Inspections & Remediation, Workplace Programs
- Events: Engagement Meetings in Pakistan, Pakistan Labour Academy, EU-Pakistan Business Forum
Coverage: Signatory Brands, Covered Factories and Workers
As of 13 August, 142 brands sourcing from Pakistan have signed the Pakistan Accord. Pakistan Accord signatories include the world’s largest clothing brands and retailers and are headquartered in 19 countries across the United States of America, Europe, Australia, Hong Kong, Turkey, and Japan.
Collectively, Pakistan Accord brands source from 458 factories with over 527,000 workers. The export value of these brands increased from USD $3.5 billion in 2024 to over USD $4.5 billion by July 2026.
View the latest list of Pakistan Accord signatories.
View the list of factories participating in the Pakistan Accord programs.
Program Rollout
Inspections and Remediation
To date, Pakistan Accord engineers have conducted 449 Initial Inspections, 207 Follow-Up Inspections, 55 Special Inspections to identify fire, electrical, and structural safety risks across factories in Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad.
Over 240 boilers across 117 factories have received at least one boiler safety inspection. These inspections aim to identify risks that could trigger a boiler explosion including issues like safety valves deterioration, absence of steam pressure limiters and leakages in tube welding joints.
Important: The Pakistan Accord does not accredit or endorse any external consultants. Factories should not hire any outside parties claiming to represent or provide services on behalf of the Pakistan Accord.
Technical Workshops
Pakistan Accord engineers have been conducting a series of technical workshops to support factories in their remediation journey. General sessions on fire, structural and electrical safety were held for 30 factories between 21-23 July. This was followed by specialised sessions for 38 factories requiring Detailed Engineering Assessments (DEAs), from 28 -30 July.
Upcoming Workshops on Immediate Findings and Quick Fixes
To support factories in their remediation journey, the Pakistan Accord is preparing a series of workshops focused on correcting immediate safety findings. Correcting these issues offers significant life-safety value and contributes to boosting remediation progress and overall health and safety at factories. For examples of immediate findings, you can revisit Supplier Briefing No. 8 and 9.
The Pakistan Accord will be arranging a series Town Hall and individual meetings with factories between 8 and 18 September to ensure focused guidance and engagement.
Finance Plan Webinars
Over 80 Preliminary Finance Schedules for covered factories are now complete, providing factory management and brands a shared understanding of cost estimates to support planning, budgeting, and timely implementation of safety remediation.
The costs reflect Pakistani market prices for materials, equipment, and installation, with standard engineering assumptions used for items awaiting detailed designs.
The Pakistan Accord will organise webinars starting the week of 24 August, to delve deeper into these schedules with the concerned factories and their respective sourcing brands.
Factory Portal Launch
The Pakistan Accord launched its Factory Portal in June during an online event attended by inspected factories. The Factory Portal is an interactive online platform for covered factories to directly engage on Accord-related updates and actions.
Through the portal, factories can:
- Update contact details and general information
- Update Corrective Action Plans (CAPs)
- Access their inspection reports
- Upload required documents
- Raise queries directly with Accord engineers
As part of this initial phase, factories are requested to promptly and accurately submit their boiler information to support the continuation of boiler safety inspections and remediation at their facilities. We invite all factories to explore the platform and address any pending actions.
Engineering Helpdesk Launch
The Pakistan Accord has launched a new Engineering Helpdesk to provide consistent, transparent, and accessible technical support to factories and engineering consultants engaged in safety remediation at covered facilities. Other stakeholders involved in factory safety including government agencies, brands and civil society organisations may also refer to the resources.
Key features include:
- Guidance Documents: Detailed resources covering fire, electrical, structural, and boiler safety.
- FAQ Section: Discipline-specific frequently asked questions designed to guide factories on specific queries.
The Helpdesk is a living resource that will evolve based on the needs of factories. In the coming months, it will be populated with training recordings and webinars.
We encourage stakeholders to review existing materials and suggest priorities for future development. Please submit queries and feedback to helpdesk@safetyaccord.pk.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Pakistan Accord emphasises that these resources are supplementary and are not subsitutes for appointing qualified engineers. Every factory building presents unique structural and operational circumstances that cannot be fully addressed by generalised documentation.
Workplace Programs
The Pakistan Accord’s Workplace Programs continues to make progress across covered factories. To date, the Workplace Programs team has conducted over 295 initial introductory meetings, and All-Employee Meetings (AEMs) have taken place at 195 factories. As part of the AEMs, 193,250 booklets have been distributed among workers to raise awareness on workplace health and safety. In addition, 116 Safety Committee training meetings have been held with 1,428 participants. These joint labour-management committees support workplace health and safety at covered factories and are integral to overall health and safety across factories.
The Pakistan Accord’s Complaints Mechanism has received over 345 complaints. The most common complaints relate to forced overtime, inadequate quality or quantity of potable water, verbal abuse, overtime without payment, excessive overtime, threats, and heat stress. Over 65 complaints have been resolved via the Pakistan Accord’s independent Complaints Mechanism.
Events
Engagement Meetings in Islamabad
Joris Oldenziel, Executive Director, International Accord and Zulfiqar Shah, Country Director, Pakistan Accord visited Islamabad for high level engagement meetings with representatives from the Ministry of Commerce, ILO Pakistan, and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The purpose of the meetings was to update key stakeholders on progress under the Pakistan Accord.
Pakistan Labour Academy
Zulfiqar Shah delivered the session Occupational Safety and Health Compliance – An Update from Pakistan Accord at the 4th Pakistan Labour Academy, organised by Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES) Pakistan in Karachi. Over 25 trade union representatives from across Pakistan attended the academy.
During his presentation, Shah provided an overview of the Pakistan Accord, highlighting the progress made in improving fire and building safety standards across Pakistan’s textile and garment factories that supply more than 140 global brands and retailers. He emphasised the Pakistan Accord’s significance as a legally binding agreement between trade unions and brands aimed at ensuring worker health and safety in Pakistan’s textile and garment industry.
EU-Pakistan Business Forum
Zulfiqar Shah, participated in the 2026 EU-Pakistan Business Forum in Islamabad. The forum brought together representatives of European businesses operating in Pakistan, business leaders from Europe, government officials, diplomats, and industry experts to strengthen economic cooperation and explore new avenues for growth across industries including the textile and garment sector.
The Forum concluded with discussions over two days around strengthening partnership for business growth and sustainable economic development.
Operations
The Pakistan Accord continues to build and train local teams in Karachi and Lahore to ensure effective program implementation.
We are seeking a new, Karachi-based, Remediation Department Manager to ensure effective communication and coordination between Pakistan Accord signatories, covered suppliers, and staff on the non-technical aspects of remediation monitoring and Corrective Action Plan (CAP) implementation.
View the Remediation Department Manager job vacancy
Resources
Stay in Touch
Related updates
The International Accord conducted the first round of initial inspections at factories supplying to Pakistan Accord brands in Lahore and Karachi between 16 – 28 October 2023.
Global brands and trade unions have renewed the International Accord to enhance health and safety in supply chains in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and other countries in the future.
This briefing includes updates on the number of signatory brands and covered factories, brand-supplier meetings, new Pakistan Accord office and the capacity building program in Pakistan.
The Accord Secretariat has published the first list of suppliers covered under the Pakistan Accord comprising information on over 400 factories supplying 52 Pakistan Accord signatory brands.
The pilot safety assessments were initiated in September 2022 to inform the Accord's ongoing feasibility studies and establish an effective safety inspection and remediation program in Pakistan.
The Global Fashion Summit organised by the Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), was held from 27-28 June at the Copenhagen Concert Hall in Denmark.
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