Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine Magazine May 2018 | Page 52

SUSTAINABILITY UPDATE THE LATEST NEWS HAVE YOUR SAY For the latest news on apparel and textile, make sure that you visit https://apparelresources.com/top-news/ Write to Apparel Resources, B-32, South Extension-1, New Delhi (110049), India or email: [email protected] situation in case of emergencies. So when fire breaks out, there are high chances of stampede and, naturally, being slow in reflexes than men, the women workers suffer the most. No dedicated staff is appointed to ensure proper implementation of fire and safety standards “This practice is unsafe and is mostly being followed by comparatively low-level garment groups in Bangladesh. I have audited more than 100 such factories and found out that they do not have concern about the health and the environment. Whoever is involved in fire safety, they only know how to operate the hose, or the pumps, and how to look into the detection system. They are not aware about the proper auditing system to detect what kind of incident can take place in the factory.” A team of ‘aware’, ‘observant’ and ‘educated’ employees is the best bet for preventing fire accidents in the workplace and the primary responsibility of the team is to train all employees within the factory to inculcate a sense of responsibility and awareness among them. However, Bangladesh seems to be ignorant about this fact. A large ESSENTIALS Already running production in unauthorized buildings, the factories are packed with massive workforce and 80% of whom are women. Also, there is lack of fire exit which toughens the situation in case of emergencies. So when fire breaks out, there are high chances of stampede and, naturally, being slow in reflexes than men, the women workers suffer the most. number of factories don’t have proper HES (Health, Environment and Safety) training programme which is mandatory to be conducted. Due to the lack of a dedicated person, daily reporting system and internal audit are not being monitored and that’s one major reason for dearth in near- missing preventive plans or actions.  Fire-drills are just formality “Drills should be conducted confidentially without bringing it to anyone’s notice. The safety officer is afraid if, without information, drills are conducted, stampede will occur and it might create a panic situation. But then this is the reason why training programmes are always there using which one can educate and aware the workforce.” One of the most important aspects of a professional fire safety training programme is to conduct fire- drills in regular sessions. It helps employees to be aware of the exit procedures, and what to do in case of an accident. Bangladesh, being a labour-intensive garment industry, has its own reasons for fire-drills not taking place effectively. In most of the factories, the fire and safety officer already informs the employees before the fire-drills happen. This is of no use. 52 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2018 | www.apparelresources.com If problems are there, solutions also exist Following the unfortunate incidents such as fire in Tazreen Fashion and Rana Plaza collapse, various organizations including the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety and National Plan of Action (NPA) have been formed to improve building and fire safety of Bangladesh’s garment industry. These organizations are working extensively to improve safety standards in Bangladesh. The autonomous bodies like BGMEA and BKMEA are also planning not to give membership until and unless the factory is fully compliant on Civil, Electrical and Fire Safety standards. However, Bangladesh needs to come up with a robust roadmap in order to improve the health and safety standards in the country. Change in the mindset of the mid-to low- level factories is a must. There is an urgent need for appointing a fire marshal department whose role would only be to monitor and examine if the evacuation procedures are being followed correctly in the garment factories across Bangladesh. “Formation of zonal-wise teams in Dhaka and Chittagong would contribute significantly in the efforts towards improving the fire-safety plans,” suggests Sukesh.