By Rick Ogden
During the first week of December 2025, Nirapon hosted a team from the Life and Building Safety Initiative (LABS), which works on factory safety across several Asian countries. A number of Nirapon members – like Amazon, Gap Inc., Target Corp. and Walmart – are also members of LABS.
The LABS team – comprising of reps from India and Viet Nam – allowed the team in Dhaka to share learnings, exchange knowledge and showcase how Nirapon’s Safety Management System works in practice.
Across the week, the LABS representatives accompanied Nirapon’s Safety Analysts on visits to three factories, looked at the day-to-day operations of the Amader Kotha helpline, and joined one of our Town Hall sessions at the Amari Hotel in Dhaka. (See story below)
A particularly poignant moment during the LABS visit was a joint trip to the Rana Plaza site to pay respects to the victims of the 2013 tragedy. Standing there together, with colleagues committed to improving safety across the region, served as a powerful reminder of what is at stake. We all left with renewed determination to do what we can to ensure that a tragedy like that never happens again.
We also had the chance to spend time together outside of work, including a relaxed team dinner that allowed everyone to connect more informally. The following day, we held a full debrief where both teams shared reflections on what they found most useful, insights from the factory field visits, and early observations on where meaningful collaboration could emerge.
The LABS team visit has further strengthened the relationship between the two organisations, and Mehdi Hasan and Rick Ogden are now planning a reciprocal trip in January 2026 to Viet Nam to see a LABS’s factory graduation programme in action.
