BGMEA briefing on factory safety initiatives on April 10

The apparel sector trade body BGMEA will apprise foreign diplomats, donor agencies and other stakeholders of the progress the sector made so far, especially after the Rana Plaza collapse, the country's worst-ever industrial disaster, sources have said.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) will convene a meeting on April 10 to this end and it is expected to be attended by diplomats from 14 European Union (EU) and other countries including the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Australia and other donor agencies including the IFC, GIZ and JICA.
Secretaries from foreign, commerce and labour ministries alongside representatives from the buyers' forum are also expected to join the meeting, sources close to the initiative have told the FE.
The move has been initiated just ahead of the first anniversary of the tragic Rana Plaza incident, which took place on April 24, 2013 leaving more than 1,100 garment workers dead and many others injured.
One of the main objectives of the initiative is to restore the image of the local apparel sector abroad, which was tarnished following the tragic incident, according to the sources.
However, labour leaders have alleged that many commitments made by different quarters and initiatives they took in relation to payment of compensations to the victims as well as workplace safety and workers' rights in the apparel sector remain unmet.
They, however, have said the safety issue has emerged the topmost priority but developments in this area are slow while in some cases there are hardly any visible changes.
"The meeting will discuss the progress that has so far been made in the garment factories in terms of workplace safety, labour rights and standards," BGMEA vice president Md Shahidullah Azim told the FE.
Many positive steps were taken after the building collapse, he said adding they would explain all their initiatives and the progress they made in the meeting.
Explaining the steps, he said factory assessment by the two buyers' organisations Accord and Alliance and the government already began and the BGMEA was closely working with them. Faults were being identified while the manufacturers were also positive about rectifying them.
A BGMEA team comprising 30 officials was monitoring the safety standards and social compliances while it appointed 10 engineers to strengthen safety inspection and monitor factories' structural safety, he said.
A crash training programme on fire safety for mid-level management and supervisors of factories was also being held and it already covered 1,400 factories, he added.
Regarding workers' rights, he said the minimum wage was increased to Tk 5,300 from Tk 3,000.
However, labour leaders alleged that minimum wages were increased but the new wages were yet to be implemented in all factories while rights to other basic things like health, housing and treatment facilities were still ignored.
After the tragic incident, the BGMEA committed to introduce a bio-metric database on workers, which was yet to be done covering most of their members, they added.
Nazma Akter, president of Sammilito Garment Sramik Federation, said the safety issue came to the fore, but concerns still remained as a good number of workers lost their jobs due to the safety programmes.
 "We don't want any recurrence of any Rana Plaza-like tragedy, but the improvement should be made while ensuring that no workers lose their jobs," said Mojibur Rahman Bhuiyan, secretary general of Bangladesh Mukto Sramik Federation.
Regarding compensation, both the labour leaders said victims of the Rana Plaza tragedy were yet to get compensation, which should be disbursed long before.
Factory safety was now being ensured by different quarters, which should be done by the owners themselves, Ms Nazma said, adding the factory owners should do responsible business showing due respect to the workers.