Wal-Mart Stores Inc stepped up Bangladesh factory inspections while US and European retailers pursued separate accords to try to prevent another disaster in a garment industry where more than 1,200 workers have died in the past six months.

Walmart, the world's biggest retailer, said it does not plan to sign a fire and building safety agreement backed by some of Europe's biggest apparel brands because it believes its own safety inspection plans will get faster results.

Wednesday was the deadline for retailers to decide whether to join the consortium, led by labor groups such as Europe's IndustriALL.

Other US retailers including Gap Inc said they would not join the European pact without changes in the way conflicts are resolved in the courts. US companies have been reluctant to join any industry accord that creates legally binding objectives.

"Walmart believes its safety plan meets or exceeds the IndustriALL proposal, and will get results more quickly," the US retailer said in a statement on Tuesday.

Wal-Mart has begun checking the 279 factories that supply its stores, and plans to inspect them all within six months. Its checks have already turned up two locations with safety problems and it asked the Bangladesh government to suspend production at those factories.

In Chittagong, about 250 kilometers from Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, workers at one factory that Walmart wants closed said they were unaware of any safety concerns and business was proceeding as usual. Company officials at Stitch Tone Garments Ltd said they were no longer making clothes for Walmart, but did not say who they were currently supplying.

"We don't know about the problems of our owners. We don't know about the risk. We are working for our livelihood. If we stop the work, we cannot survive," said one of the workers, Parvin Akter.

The minimum wage for Bangladesh's garment workers is about $38 a month, although many factories pay more than that in order to attract workers in a tight labor market.

Bangladesh ranked last in minimum wages for factory workers in 2010, according to World Bank data.

The April 24 collapse of Rana Plaza in Savar, near Dhaka, has focused attention on safety standards at Bangladesh factories that make clothing for the world's major apparel brands and retailers. The death toll stood at 1,127 as rescue operations ended this week.

But the companies that rely on Bangladesh for inexpensive apparel have yet to agree on how best to ensure safe working conditions.

Walmart's approach may be faster, but touches only a fraction of Bangladesh's estimated 6,500 garment factories. The European-led accord will take months to implement, but covers a wider spectrum.

North American retailers discussed forging their own Bangladesh safety agreement as an alternative to Europe's plan, though details were sparse.