RMG Factory Fire!

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A local English daily's staff correspondent in his front page report of 15th December on the fire incident; quoted (the wise and knowledgeable?) Dy. Managing Director of the factory; who suspected electrical short circuit as the cause of the fire; the usual reason given for such fires!
If this is so; then he and the factory management has to be held responsible, and taken to task, for using poor quality electric cables, non-flameproof electrical fittings and poorly designed and maintained electrical wiring and grounding in the factory and its equipment! In this connection I would like to share my experiences about electrical safety measures, gathered on the job with multinational Acetylene factories in Bangladesh covering ten years during 1970s.
For the lay reader's information; Acetylene is one of the most highly inflammable, unstable and combustible gas; which is regularly produced and compressed in cylinders in Bangladesh. There has been no accidents in the manufacturing of this dangerous gas in Bangladesh as far as I can recall though there has been a number of small accidents during the use of oxy-acetylene flame for welding or cutting by unskilled gas welders in roadside shops.
How is this possible; while we have fires due to electrical short-circuit in EMG factories, may be once a month; many of which has been devastating and widely publicized. Unfortunately, till date; we have still not been able to solve this basic problem in RMG factories!
Possibly, the owners are shy in investing capital for safety; by not using flame-proof cables and fittings (which have to be imported) as they are not manufactured and readily available in Bangladesh! I also wonder if the factory wiring and all electrically operated machines used in RMG factories are safely earthed? For that matter, did the "That's It Sportsman Ltd." have an electrical license for combustibles from the environment development, certifying that the installation has all flame proof electrical set-up?
May be the owners feel it to be a cost benefit advantage, by avoiding extra investment for flame-proof electrical installation as compared to the risk of fire. Government must ensure that all RMG factories have these essential safety facilities at the soonest to prevent avoidable electrical accidents and loss of valuable human lives! If needed they can seek help of multinational Acetylene manufacturing factories and adopt their safety standards.
Engr. S. A. Mansoor
Dhaka
E-mail: sam@dhakacom.com