A huge number of factories are operating in the country without a fire protection checklist, exposing them hazardous to fire incidents, according to Labour Rights Activists.
They alleged that these industrial units have employed million of workers ignoring workplace safety and compliance issues paving the way for fresh industrial disasters.
“Thousands of industrial units are operating across the country without a specific fire safety checklist posing a potential threat to industrial disaster,” Roy Ramesh Chandra, a labour leader, told The New Nation on Saturday.
He said these factories are maintaining their production activities without installing adequate fire safety equipment in absence of stringent monitoring and inspection by the government agencies.
“Industrial units should not be permitted to operate in the country if they fail to ensure workplace safety,” he said adding that the government should take effective steps to ensure that factories have adequate fire safety standards to prevent fire incidents.
According to the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), there are a total of 23,218 registered factories across the country.
If the unregistered factories take into account, the total number of industrial units would increase manifold, sources said.
“Negligence of government agencies is responsible for the poor safety standards in the factories,” Nazrul Islam Khan, a Labour Rights Activist, told The New Nation yesterday.
He said industrial units are running with high risk of fire incidents as they were housed in old structures without having necessary exits and firefighting equipment. “Though workers are working risking their lives, the government is yet to come out with a comprehensive plan to improve workplace safety,” he added. Referring to media reports, he said, there are only six inspectors to monitor fire safety standards in over 23,000 registered factories. The number is frustrating and unacceptable. The limited number of inspectors proves that the government is not sincere to ensure the factory monitoring and implement safety issues there.
Nazrul Islam Khan also a senior BNP leader said the government should engage an all-out effort on remediation in fire safety standards in all the industrial sectors. Otherwise, fire incidents could take place one after another tarnishing image of the country.
‘The situation in RMG factories is now better in view of stringent remediation measures under the European and the North American buyers. Other industrial sectors should also be taken into the process to reduce risk of industrial disasters,” he added.
Nazrul Islam Khan further said that the government must give total emphasis on remediation in fire safety standards under a checklist taking account into recent fire incidents in the factories.
“We are working on formulating National Inspection Policy in line with the Labour Law. The policy will comprise a common checklist for the industrial sector,” a senior Labour Ministry official told The New Nation yesterday.
When asked, he said, factories should not run without inspection or lack of fire safety measures. We are trying to routine inspection to the factories, but poor manpower at the concerned department makes the task almost difficult.
“We have already increased manpower to the concerned department but this is not adequate for proper inspection and monitoring of the factories,” he added.
