Many garment factories are yet to ensure safe exist facilities and remove lockable gates as required by western buyers and the government, leaving workers vulnerable to fire accidents, insiders have said.
According to the industry insiders, some 40 per cent of the total operational garment factories, especially the units inspected under national initiative, involved in sub-contracting and are yet to be assessed, still have such gates.
In October, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a platform of North American apparel buyers and companies, suspended seven additional factories for failure to show evidence of remediation progress, while five of the seven factories were also cited for failure to remove lockable exits.
The factories are: Wucho Fashion Ltd at Ashulia, Stoffatext Fashions Ltd at Tongi, Sajib Fashion Wear Ltd at Gandaria, Dana Sweater Industries Ltd in Gazipur and Legend Textiles Ltd in Chittagong, according to Alliance's website.
"Any factory that is unwilling or unable to make progress on the repairs required to meet our safety standards is removed from our list of Alliance-complaint factories, without exception," said Jim Moriarty, Alliance country director.
"Ensuring the safety of workers in Alliance-affiliated factories is our highest priority," he added.
Inadequate exits were blamed for the casualties in the 2012 Tazreen Fashions fire that killed 112 workers, leaving many injured.
The collapsible gate of the Tazreen building was locked and the highest number of dead bodies was recovered from this floor and supervisors on the second and third floors allegedly stopped the workers from evacuating the factory despite fire alarm.
Following the incident, global buyers recommended installing fire-proof doors instead of existing collapsible and lockable gates to keep the exit point open.
Though nearly four years have passed since the Tazreen tragedy, a good number of the factories are yet to be equipped with such a safe exit.
According to a research book titled "Vulnerable Empowerment: Capacities and Vulnerabilities of Female Garments Workers in Bangladesh" launched in September last revealed that 11 per cent of the 1,014 surveyed garment workers reported that exits of the work premises were locked.
Accord, a platform of mostly European retailers and brands, in its initial inspection in 1,600 garment factories, found that over 90 per cent of factories assessed by the Accord had lockable, collapsible gates in the exit paths.
Syed Ahmed, Inspector General of Department of Factories and Establishments (DIFE), admitted that its regular inspection found the existence of collapsible gate in a good number of factories.
"But the situation has improved much and they are not kept locked during working hours," he claimed.
After the Tazreen fire, the labour and employment ministry warned of legal action against the factories if they keep the exit points and staircases locked.
"As the use of collapsible gate has become an 'issue' following few incidents, especially after the Tazreen fire, almost all factories have removed such gates," Faruque Hassan, senior vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said.
He insisted that some factories might have sliding gate for security measures, but there is hardly any gate that remained locked during working hours, he claimed.
Labour leader Babul Akhter said though garment factories still use collapsible gates, the tendency of keeping those locked during work hours has decreased to a greater extent.
"But for the safety of workers, such gates must be removed as the guard responsible for security may keep it locked at any time," he added.
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