Fast-track factory inspections

The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a group of 26 North American retailers, yesterday urged the experts of the national tripartite initiative to complete inspections of garment factories under its purview without further delay.

Completion of all factory inspections is necessary to get a clear picture of the industry, said Mesbah Rabin, managing director of Alliance.

Around 52 percent of garment factories lie beyond the purview of Alliance and Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, he said.

"But their progress is very slow," said Rabin, adding that experts of the national initiative have so far inspected only 625 of the 1,700 apparel factories. "So the challenge remains that if those factories go wrong, it will pull back the progress of the sector."

Rabin's comments came at a conference on "Global Social Responsibility-Shareholder Value vs Social Responsibility", organised by the Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the capital's Radisson Hotel.

Rabin also called upon the factory owners to become more careful with imports of fire doors.

Apparel makers have so far imported around 9,000 fire-protected doors, but only 1,100 seem to have credible certification, he added.

The engineers of Accord have also completed its first round of inspections in September, said Rob Wayss, executive director of Accord.

A lot of progress has taken place in three important areas -- fire, building and industrial relations -- over the last 18 months, he said, adding that some challenges still remain unresolved.

The challenges of proper installation of fire doors, remediation financing, strengthening of fire brigade and genuine representation of workers in trade unions, are yet to be resolved. Wayss too called for imports of genuine fire-protected doors.

Many entrepreneurs are investing lots of money on fire doors, but it will all go to waste if the doors are not properly certified, he added. 

The two inspecting agencies also called upon the factory owners to invest their own funds rather than relying on donor funds for factory remediation.

Many entrepreneurs look for free money for remediation financing, said Rabin.  

"Remediation is the responsibility of the entrepreneurs. But as shared responsibilities, we can help them find low-cost funding so that remediation does happen."

The International Labour Organisation is obviously giving more importance to inspections of garment factories in Bangladesh, said Tuomo Poutiainen, manager of the ILO's garment sector programme.

All factory inspections under the national initiative will be completed by the end of April, he said.  

ABM Khorshed Alam, chief executive of the National Skill Development Council, urged factory owners to implement small cautionary measures to ensure fire safety.

Some measures include separating warehouses from the main factory buildings, installing dedicated generators and creating open water reservoirs, he said, adding that these are the key factors in ensuring fire safety.   

There will be no problem of space as many apparel makers are relocating their factories to outside of Dhaka, he said. 

The aim of the third Global Social Responsibility conference is to provide a platform for engagement in dialogue between the major stakeholders such as garment producers, civil society, the government and the development partners, said Sakhawat Abu Khair, president of BGCCI.

Daniel Seidl, executive director of BGCCI, and Mohammed Abdul Jabbar, managing director of DBL Group, also spoke.