A review panel of factory inspections yesterday asked Softex and Fame Sweater to suspend production and asked to retrofit before going for production.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the review committee, following a recommendation from the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.
Fakhrul Amin and Ehsanul Kabir, professors of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, BGMEA and BKMEA representative Shahidullah Azim and representatives from Alliance and Accord were present at the meeting.
“We have found some problems in Softex, which needs retrofitting and after the discussion among the review panel, the factory owners have been asked to suspend production and make quick retrofitting,” said a meeting source, wishing anonymity.
Fame Sweater Limited has been asked to minimise loads on floor, strengthen column and then to restart production after four days of the improvement, he added.
Earlier on Tuesday, the review panel asked Jeans Care, a Tejgaon-based garment maker, to take immediate steps to upgrade safety standards to remain in production.
According to the statistics of Accord, the retailers’ platform has inspected over 70 factories as of yesterday.
On February 20, the Accord, the platform of 150 European retailers, launched the first phase of inspection involving fire and structural integrity and inspected over 65 factories.
In the first phase, the Accord has set a target of inspecting 200 apparel factories, from which its signatories source products.
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.
Following the factory disaster, the retailers’ platform made a commitment to provide financial and technical support to improve fire and building safety standards of RMG factories, from which they source products.
