24 RMG units lack fire safety requirements

The fire department has asked another two dozen readymade garment (RMG) factories to comply with safety requirements or face punitive actions as part of the government's effort to ensure workplace safety, sources said.
It issued notices to the factories when its inspectors found a number of loopholes on fire safety issue, they said.
 "Our inspectors found massive shortcomings of fire safety equipment and lack of necessary facilities in majority portion of the factories visited," a senior Fire Service and Civil Defence official told the FE.
He said drive to check the factories will continue and notices will be issued to the factory owners to comply with the requirements to stop recurrence of fire incidents like that of Tazreen Fashions which burnt 112 workers alive.
According to some notices, copies of which are available to the FE, most of the factories have no fire pumps. When fire breaks out, fire-fighters find no source of water and struggle to control fire which results in loss of lives and valuables.
Besides, most of the factories lack standby pumps, fire-proof doors, automatic fire sprinkler system, busbar tracking system, fire hydrant system, and fire extinguishers.
The inspectors also found that even after the deadly Rana Plaza collapse, which claimed lives of over 1,100 workers and injured many, the staircases and common passage of most of the RMG units remain stuck with raw materials and goods halting movement of workers.
In many cases, the inspectors found that the gates of rooftop of the buildings, which house RMG factories, still remain closed during the working hours. In case of a fire incident, the workers will fail to reach the rooftop and die after being suffocated from smoke.
In a large number of factories, the inspectors found no presence of fire extinguishers. In some cases, the number of fire extinguishers was found inadequate. They also found that workers hardly have any training to use fire extinguishers in case fire breaks out.  
The fire department asked most of the factory owners to carry out fire drill regularly so that workers themselves can act immediately if any incident takes place.     
According to the notices issued to the factory owners, still many factory lack alternative staircases. Workers will fail to come out quickly and become easy victims of fire incidents.
Sources said the factories were given one-month time to comply with the safety requirement. They were warned of punitive action if, during next visit to the factories, the same safety loopholes are found.  
Another fire department official said nearly 32 per cent of the inspected RMG factories, located in and around the capital city, are non-compliant with the minimum level of fire safety requirements. The department detected that only 14 per cent of the units have adequate fire safety measures.
A senior Commerce Ministry official said the government has moved to reduce duty on import of fire safety equipment to ease the burden of factory owners as they are under pressure to meet the safety requirements.
He said with the duty reduction, many factory owners will feel encouraged to install fire safety equipment.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Vice President Shahidullah Azim told the FE earlier that many factories have started complying with the fire safety requirement set by the fire department.
He said compliance by all the RMG factories with safety requirements will take time as it costs them a lot.