International labour rights groups have called for the inclusion of boiler inspection at Bangladesh RMG units by the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.
Referring to the Multifabs Ltd factory boiler blast in Gazipur, a statement issued on Tuesday by these organisations says: “The boiler explosion shows the danger of poorly maintained and uninspected boilers in the garment industry in Bangladesh.”
The statement was issued by the Witness Signatories of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, Clean Clothes Campaign, International Labor Rights Forum, Worker Rights Consortium and Maquila Solidarity Network.
“Boilers are currently not covered under the inspections of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which stipulates that the boiler room be separated from the rest of the factory with fire-rated construction, but does not include inspections of the boilers themselves to detect explosion risk. Fire separation alone is an insufficient measure... the explosion of a defective boiler can be powerful enough to breach the walls of the room in which it is contained, spreading fire and/or causing structural damage,” the statement says.
The rights groups believe the only way to fully protect against such boiler explosion is to ensure the integrity of the boiler.
They called for immediate expansion of the Accord safety standard and its inspection programme. “The Accord Steering Committee, its leadership body, will need to approve this modification to the Accord safety standard and the Accord’s inspectorate will need to add technical capacity for this purpose,” the statement says.
They also called for addressing other safety hazards – defects in factory generators, gas lines and freight elevators – that have caused accidents, injury and death in garment factories.
The statement says the organisations are in the process of confirming which brands sourced from Multifabs and have already identified at least one brand that is a member of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, which also does not cover the safety of boilers. However, a spokesman for the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety has confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune that Multifabs Ltd is not currently on the roster of factories doing business with any Alliance member companies. Records on the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety website show Multifabs Ltd was deactivated in May 2015 and later transferred to the Accord’s control for inspections in June 2016.
Global unions IndustriALL and UNI announced a three-year post-2018 renewal of the Accord. The statement urges all brands and retailers that source apparel from Bangladesh to sign the new Accord.
This post has been corrected to clarify Multifab Ltd's affiliation with several labour rights groups
Thursday, April 25, 2024
