Bangladesh's smaller garment factories hit hard by cost of safety overhaul

Dhaka

UNDAUNTED by a run of horrific factory accidents that have hit Bangladesh's garments industry, two entrepreneurs bought Adorn Knitwear Ltd earlier this year.

It is a small business not far from the rubble of Rana Plaza, a Dhaka suburb building that collapsed in April 2013 killing more than 1,100 people, most low-paid seamstresses, and prompting a costly safety overhaul at plants large and small.

Whether people like Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, one of Adorn's new owners, can afford those improvements will be critical for the future of a sector that accounts for over 80 per cent of this South Asian nation's export earnings, industry leaders say.

Last month, Adorn's production lines were silent and its sewing machines gathering dust as the lengthy process of checking the building for structural weakness was underway. "We're losing money every minute," said Mr Chowdhury, 35, as he looked around his factory, which has a list of potentiall…