Since Bangladesh garment industry’s worst ever tragedy – the 2013 Rana Plaza accident—
Bangladesh has so far shut down 73 garment factories for safety reasons, which has affected nearly 20,000 garment workers engaged in the flourishing RMG sector of Bangladesh, a major source of export earnings for the country, according to media reports.
Speaking to Xinhua, the official press agency of the People’s Republic of China, Inspector General of the Department of Inspection of Factories and Establishments Syed Ahmed while revealing a latest garments assessment report of Bangladesh RMG sector said, “A total of 37 readymade garment manufacturing factories were closed which affected 16,938 workers. Production has also been suspended partially in another 36 factories with 2,041 workers affected.”
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In the infamous Rana Plaza tragedy, an eight-storey building housing five garment factories collapsed on April 24, 2013, at the outskirts of Dhaka, killing more than 1,130 people, mostly workers of the RMG manufacturing units.
In the backdrop of this incident, the Department of Inspection of Factories and Establishments, in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), has launched the safety assessment that sounded a harsh wake-up call to authorities to improve working conditions at some 5,000 garment factories involved in readymade garments which employ nearly 5 million garment workers, about 80 per cent of who are women.
“Following Rana Plaza, commitments were made to assess the structural integrity of all active export-oriented factories to identify those with high risks of collapse. Virtually all have now been inspected with 37 closed, helping avoid potential loss of life,” said Syed Ahmed, adding, “We now turn our full attention to the challenge of remediation and ensuring a safer readymade garment sector for all who work in it.”
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According to the assessment report, the Bangladesh Government has completed the inspection phase of its efforts to assess thousands of garment manufacturing units for structural, fire and electrical safety, with emphasis now switching to remediation. A number of significant actions have taken place to strengthen the inspection process of factories of Bangladesh garment sector under the national initiative.
A study on remediation financing, jointly launched by ILO and Department of Inspection of Factories and Establishments, is currently going on. Dwelling on the need to prioritise the corrective measures, Bangladesh Country Director International Labour Organisation (ILO), Srinivas Reddy observed, “It is absolutely time for remedial action plans.”
