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A total of 46,100 factories across the country are set to undergo safety inspections as the government looks to ensure adequate infrastructural and fire safety measures at all industrial units.
The safety evaluations will be conducted by a government committee featuring 138 teams at the field level from mid-October, when 5,000 factories will face inspections in the first three-month phase.
At least one team will be present in each district for the duration while industrial hubs will feature two or more.
This information came at a briefing on the monitoring and inspection methods, and checklists for all industrial factories at the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) office yesterday.
“The main purpose of this initiative is to create awareness about workplace safety hazards, not to harass anyone in any way,” said Abhijit Chowdhury, an executive member of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA).
Following a tragic fire at the Hashem Foods factory in Narayanganj that left over 50 people dead earlier this year, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) announced a 24-member committee headed by Salman F Rahman, the prime minister’s adviser for private industry and investment, to help prevent such incidents in the future.
After that, the PMO ordered the relevant authorities to launch an inspection campaign across the country, appointing BIDA to lead it in coordination with business associations such as the FBCCI and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
As such, BIDA will lead an 18-member central coordinating committee and three sub-committees.
About 32 industrial sectors will be given priority under this initiative considering their high potential for accidents. The concerned factory authorities will be informed three days before an inspection.
FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin said implementing factory safety measures currently require licensing from many government agencies and departments.
So, creating a one-stop service platform at BIDA would help reduce the harassment faced by entrepreneurs and facilitate safer working environments, he added.
Uddin also called upon all stakeholders to cooperate in the factory monitoring activities.
Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu, senior vice president of the FBCCI, said that although some money was previously spent on the safety reform process, only Bangladesh’s export-oriented garment industry is reaping the benefits.
Now, the FBCCI is working with BIDA to help all other sectors enjoy the same, he added.
When accidents happen at a factory, only the owner is blamed even though the authorities who issued its safety licenses should also be held accountable.
Referring to a massive fire at a chemical warehouse in Nimtoli that claimed 124 lives in 2010, Babu said that if a separate chemical hub had been formed as promised, the 2019 fire incident in Churihatta that killed 72 people could have been avoided.
Babu also assured that the FBCCI would take the necessary steps to eliminate tariff inequality between export-oriented and non export-oriented industries in importing safety equipment.
MA Momen, a vice president of the FBCCI, said entrepreneurs have nothing to fear from the inspection checklist.
The FBCCI has partnered with the initiative to help industrialists. If this step is successful, all industries in the country will be as safe as garment making units.
This will improve Bangladesh’s international image and subsequently attract more foreign investment as well, he added.
“The country’s industrial progress has been informal so far,” said FBCCI Vice President Md Amin Helaly, adding that it is high time to ensure a safe working environment in all industries.
Md Habib Ullah Don, another vice president of the FBCCI, called for issuing safety certificates only to factories that qualify in the integrated monitoring program.
Lt Col Zulfiqar Rahman, director of the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defense, said no businessman would be caught through the program.
Instead, sector-wise action plans will be adopted at the entrepreneur, association and government level to make factories safer by sorting out the information obtained through observation.
(TDS)
