participation committee elections. According to a survey conducted by Safety and Rights Society, at least 333 workers died between January and June, and 562 others were seriously injured in workplace accidents, mostly in the informal sector. On June 4, a fire at a container depot in Chattogram killed 51 and injured more than 200 workers, firefighters, and police. According to the fire service, the fire originated from a container of hydrogen peroxide, resulting in a massive explosion. The depot owner reportedly did not have a license to store hydrogen peroxide. Investigative committees found evidence of poor fire safety protocols, negligence, disregard for worker safety, and inadequate inspection actions by government agencies. Local police filed a case against eight depot employees, including two of the seriously injured officials, for negligence while on duty. Police did not file a case against the depot’s owners. The owners subsequently distributed around $638,600 to the families of 69 victims; however, many victim families were still awaiting compensation in September. In 2021, the Ministry of Commerce formed the Government Coordination Council (GCC) to supervise the independent RMG Sustainability Council (RSC), a private, tripartite organization licensed to oversee the safety standards at garment factories. The GCC includes participation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Textiles and Jute, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ministry of Industry, Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority, and BEPZA. The GCC organized two coordination meetings to provide necessary guidance and to ensure RSC activities do not conflict with other government regulatory bodies. In the coordination meetings the RSC urged inclusion of the tripartite RSC board of directors on the GCC and raised the importance of addressing safety matters at RSC-covered factories. In 2021, the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry agreement (accord) took effect. The agreement, formed between multinational union confederations and brand signatories (garment buyers), aimed to broaden the legally binding safety inspection regime, feed information into the RSC, and broaden safety inspections to include additional labor considerations such as wages and compensation and some worker-related rights. As of Page 58