Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh has detected “uncontrolled” heavy storage load on the floors, locked fire escapes and unsupported wires as major safety and security threat to the RMG workers.
During the initial inspection, the Accord has found locks on fire exits, inadequate fire alarms and sprinkler systems, chaotic electric wiring, insufficient exit capacity and over load on buildings’ floor, said chief safety inspector of Accord Brad Loewen at a press conference held yesterday in the city.
The conference was organised to brief the media about their findings on their factory inspection, which has been conducted on 10 RMG factories as a pilot project, which began at the end of the last year.
For ensuring electrical safety, the Accord suggested installing cables with supports and protection and proper route as it found that wires were not supported and cable identification was not provided, while routes are not defined, according to the inspection report.
“In assessing the fire safety, the Accord also found that the exit stairs were not separated from the work areas on each floor by fire-rated construction.”
For ensuring fire safety, the retailer’s platform suggested to install one and a half hour fire rated doors with self-closing and seal all unprotected openings to separate the exit stairs on all floor levels, reads the report.
Regarding the structural safety, the report directed the factory owners to remove all the storage loading from the buildings at all levels and to review design, loads, columns stresses for all floors and confirm suitability for applied loads.
“Two factories had been temporarily closed since last week as the inspection team found serious structural problem although they were allowed to continue production after reducing the overload,” said Brad.
“The Accord with its engineering firms and 25 local engineers will inspect around 1,500 factories, from where Accord brands sourced their RMG products. The inspection will begin with the high-risk buildings having more than five floors.”
Apart from the pilot project, the Accord,in its main inspection,had so far inspected 78 factories over fire, electrical and structural integrity, which started on February 20, this year.
As asked to make a comparison between the findings of 78 factories and the pilot project, Brad categorically replied: The findings are very similar with the pilot one.
Although he termed the target of inspecting 250 factories in a month an aggressive one, he, however, confidently said it is very much achievable.
“We have received complains of withdrawing orders from the shared-building factories and we are always ready to welcome to receive any complaints,” said Rob Wayss, Executive Director of Accord Bangladesh Operation.
To ensure long term understanding of safety issues, the Accord will provide advice and training to owners, brands, and workers to ensure building remediation is done correctly.
The issue of fire and building safety came under the spotlight last year, following the catastrophic incident at the Rana Plaza building collapse that killed over 1,100 workers.
After the factory disaster, the retailers’ platform made a commitment to provide financial and technical supports to improve fire and building safety standard of RMG factories, from which they source products.
