The government has filed cases with Labour Courts against more than 300 apparel factories which were found short of adequate fire and building safety measures during inspection, said labour ministry officials.
The factories were sued on the basis of findings by the labour and employment ministry inspections recently to a number of over 3,460 factories across the country.
The inspection was conducted in a seven-month period after the Rana Plaza collapse, which found over 300 factories keeping fire exits locked during working hours, having escape gates not clear, skipping appointment letters to workers and not maintaining regularity in salary payment etc.
“Inspection focused on fire and building safety especially, as it is a main concern now after several deadly incidents,” said Mikail Shipar, secretary of labour and employment ministry.
The inspection teams saw whether the factories were compliant with as many as 50 issues.
The issues are like factory registration, structural integrity, Rajuk approval, child workers, maternity leave, fire safety, emergency exits, fire escape gates, fire fighters’ entrance, giving appointment letter to workers and placement of generators.
The regularity of salary payment by the factories was also examined.
“Before taking action, the non-compliant factories were given 10 days to correct their faults, but nothing they did,” said Mikail Shipar.
According to the inspection data, the country has a total of 3,460 clothing factories in operation now, although Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) claims the number is 3,600.
As of December 31 last year, the BGMEA has 5,674 members while Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) is 1,931.
The European and North American retailers’ alliances and the International Labour Organisation are working in Bangladesh to improve safety standards in the garment factories.
Under a tripartite agreement, the two alliances will inspect a total of 2,200 factories from where their members source garment products and the ILO in collaboration with the government will check the remaining factories.
Following the deadliest garment sector incident, the Rana Plaza collapse, in April last year, the United States suspended generalised system preferences (GSP) facility for Bangladeshi products last year as the country “failed to improve working conditions and ensure workers’ rights in the readymade garment sector within a deadline.
