Project for inspecting RMG fire, building safety starts Oct 22

Monira Munni The government, in association with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), will launch a project on October 22, paving the way for inspecting fire and building safety standards of the country's readymade garment (RMG) factories, officials said. A committee, comprised of representatives from the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the ILO, at a meeting on Sunday finalised the checklist for the initiative. The checklist was finalised amid confusion as to whether the Accord and Alliance will also follow the same standard or incorporate their new requirements, sources said. According to them, the Accord is yet to come up with its requirements while the Alliance provided its draft standard. Both the groups need more sittings for a common and unified checklist. However, both the Accord and the Alliance had earlier agreed in principle to follow the government's manual prepared in cooperation with the ILO, they said. The ILO, in collaboration with the government, the employers and the workers' organisations, initiated the multi-year project titled 'Improving Working Conditions in the Ready-made Garment Sector'. The main objective of the project is to support the Bangladesh government's recent commitment to address the challenges faced by the RMG industry. It also stipulates interventions identified in the Tripartite National Plan of Action on fire and building safety to secure lasting improvements of working conditions in Bangladesh. A technical committee on devising a safety operating manual sat on Sunday in this regard. "It was an internal meeting and we have more or less prepared the checklist for fire and building safety inspection," a source involved with the process told the FE. Regarding the part of the Accord and the Alliance, he said they are yet to sit with the two groups. The official inspection is likely to be started from October 23 or 24, immediately after launching of the joint project, he said. ILO country director Srinivas Reddy also confirmed to the FE "the government part of the manual is ready and it would be shared with the Accord and the Alliance." Md Mashiur Rahman, Chief Inspector of Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) said they have completed the operating manual to carry out factory inspection. "We will submit it to the core committee (National Tripartite Committee) on October 20 next," he, involved in the formulation of the checklist, said. About 18 to 20 laws regarding the fire, electrical and building safety have been coordinated in the manual, he pointed out. When his attention was drawn, Roy Ramesh Chandra, general secretary of IndustriAll Bangladesh Council said the Accord has in principle agreed to take the government's safety manual as baseline. If necessary, it could add its or international standards if there is any shortcomings in it, he said. The safety-related issues are the technical part while the Accord is yet to get its institutional framework, he said. The chief inspector would be recruited by November first week and s/he will look into the matter, he disclosed. Earlier Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar said the government will start its inspection programme immediately after the launching of the $24 million government-ILO joint project. "There are lots of issues but inspection and training are the two major components of the project," he added. Sources said the signing and launching ceremony will be followed by a stakeholder workshop. The workshop will share different components of the programme with the tripartite constituents, development partners and other stakeholders. The Accord announced that it would inspect about 1,800 factories while the Alliance will carry out inspection in about 500 garment manufacturing units.