On April 24, 2013, the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which housed five garment factories, collapsed, claiming at least 1,134 lives and injuring more than 2,500 persons. This was only five months after at least 112 workers were killed in another tragic accident of the burning of the Tazreen Fashions factory. The unprecedented scale of the disaster meant a coordinated, systematic approach was required to ensure the victims, their families and dependents would not have to endure ill-health and financial hardship resulting from the death of a family member or life changing injuries.

The ILO was found to be the most relevant international body in a neutral position to advise at high-level in the negotiations bringing together local and international stakeholders (the Bangladesh Government, employers and unions, global brands and unions as well as local and global non-governmental organizations) to agree to an unprecedented coordinated framework forming the basis for establishing a single credible, transparent and independent system for delivering support to the victims of Rana Plaza, referred as the Rana Plaza Compensation Arrangement (RPCA) governed by a Coordinating Committee (RPCC). See http://www.ranaplaza-arrangement.org/ for more details. In addition to direct support for setting up a locally-based Claims Compensation operations, there have been dedicated ILO technical advisory legal and actuarial services provided at all stages since mid-2013 resulting in the implementation of an arrangement that can de facto be assimilated to an employment injury benefits scheme.

The advisory services that ILO has been providing to the RPCA and RPCC as regards the design and operationalization of the RPCA are, in so far as circumstances allow,  in conformity with ILO standards, and more particularly Convention No. 121, recognized as the reference instrument for the elaboration of the compensation scheme. To the extent possible, ILO advice also follows international standards of practice in employment injury compensation. In practical terms, the ILO assisted in the set-up of the Coordination Committee and the conclusion of the carefully negotiated “Understanding for a Practical Arrangement on Payments to the Victims of the Rana Plaza Accident and their Families”, the agreed framework under which operational and policy (legal and actuarial) guidance has been provided.

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