Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida) from next month will start checking up on the progress made by 17 factories in implementing a correction action plan (CAP) on ensuring safe work environments. 

Bida had earlier identified 106 risky factories under a nationwide initiative on preventing fires and other disasters following the death of over 50 people in a blaze at a factory of Hashem Foods Limited in Narayanganj on July 8 in 2021.

The nationwide initiative was undertaken that same year by the Prime Minister's Office through the formation of a 24-member national committee, headed by Salman F Rahman, private industry and investment adviser to the prime minister.

In the first phase of the initiative, 5,206 factories in Dhaka, Chattogram, Narayanganj and Gazipur were inspected by the Bida officials between November 2021 and March 2022.

In May this year, on the Bida's instructions, the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (Dife) had sent letters asking the 106 to implement the CAP, which includes adopting fire safety measures and complying to other regulations.

To complete the task, the 17 were given three months while the rest six months.

"The 17 factories are very vulnerable and need to comply with fire safety and environmental standards immediately to protect workers from health hazards," said Abhijit Chowdhury, national coordinator of the nationwide initiative.

"I already sent letters to Dife, the deputy and divisional commissioners, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defence to jointly start checking up on the factories," he said.

The letters were sent as per a decision taken at a meeting among the stakeholders at Bida last Sunday.

Bida hasalready provided necessary support to some of the factories and found the CAP implementation to have more or less progressed, said Chowdhury, also an executive member of Bida.

Iti is not that factories will be shut down if they miss the deadlines, rather assistance will be extended on getting the CAP implemented, he said.

Mia Masud Uzzaman, additional inspector general (current charge) of Dife, said they have already sent letters to the risky factories to improve compliance and ensure safe working environments.

Now there will be monitoring on the CAP implementation, which includes availing clearance certificates from the Department of Environment and the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defence, he said.

Bida's inspection had found out that in some cases, building codes were disregarded, fire safety measures inadequate and fire hydrants entirely absent, he said.

In the nationwide initiative's second phase from April to June this year, Bida inspected 5,000 factories in 17 districts, including Manikganj, Munshiganj, Mymensingh, Narsingdi, Kishoreganj, Khulna and Jashore, said Chowdhury.

This time too thefocus has been areas with the highest concentrations of factories where the work is labour intensive and which deal with chemicals, plastic and food processing, he said.

He hopes for the final report of this second phase to be available within next month.