In spite of the Bangladesh National Building Code’s mandate that all exit access doors must be of side-swinging type, and not sliding or hanging types, and that all the exit doors should be made in such a way that they can be opened from the side without use of a key, some garment manufacturing factories in the country allegedly still continue to have collapsible gates at its exits. This has led to Western buyers’ bodies threatening to sever business relations with these supplier units.
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“After warnings from the Accord and the Alliance, a good number of factories removed the collapsible gates from their exit points, but all the factories could not install fire doors,” underlined an official of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
According to officials of North American buyers’ forum Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, it has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the factory owners to remove the collapsible gates. “The deadline ended in the first week of this month, and now we are verifying whether the supplier factories have removed collapsible gates from exit points or not,” an Alliance official reportedly told a local newspaper recently, adding, “After finalising the corrective action plan, the factory owners got up to one year and three months’ time to remove the collapsible gates from the exits, but most of the factory owners did not comply.”
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According to the BGMEA officials, the platform of EU brands and retailers, Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, has also reportedly warned the factory owners on this issue.
“The Accord agreed that a door that swings to the side, is not lockable to prevent a way out and has a panic bar assembly is required at all exits, including main entries,” Vice-President of the BGMEA Mahmud Hassan Khan Babu reportedly told the newspaper, adding, “The Accord also agreed the door does not necessarily have to be a listed fire door depending on the exit plan of the building.”
The apex garment manufacturer and exporters’ body recently held separate meetings with the Accord and the Alliance on the issue of collapsible gates at the main entrance of the factories.
