H&M has committed to the new Fire and Building Safety accord for Bangladesh as the death toll for the Rana Plaza factory collapse passes 1,100.

The accord, initiated by IndustryALL and UNI Global Union and backed by the Ethical Trading Initiative, is designed for a five year period.

H&M head of sustainability Helena Helmersson said: “Fire and building safety are extremely important issues for us and we put a lot of effort and resources within this area. H&M has for many years taken the lead to improve and secure the safety of the workers in the garment industry.

“With this commitment we can now influence even more in this issue. We hope for a broad coalition of signatures in order for the agreement to work effectively on ground.”

The backing of the world’s second largest retailer comes as it emerged that the country has set up a panel to raise the minimum wage for more than three million garment workers, according to its minister for textiles.

Over 1,100 bodies had been pulled from the wreckage of the Rana Plaza building, which collapsed on April 24. The building housed five clothing factories that supplied retailers including Primark and Bonmarché.

The recovery operations, led by the Bangladeshi army,  is expected to officially end on Tuesday.

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