Most garment factories in Ctg lack fire safety checks

Most garment factories in Chittagong do not have concealed electric wiring systems, and their emergency stairs are too narrow to be effective in case of fire incidents.
They lack water storage capacity and fire-fighting tools, according to findings by seven teams of Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence.
The teams consisting of four officials in each inspected 74 garment factories in the port city in the last three days.
Inspection of the fire safety systems started in Chittagong on Monday, as part of an effort to inspect the country's garment units after the Ashulia tragedy on November 24.
The firemen will check 916 factories and submit a report to their headquarters in 20 days.
At Shailpik Fashion and Crafts in Mistripara area, a fire vigilance team saw around 200 workers on the factory's third and fourth floors, where there was no emergency exit.
The only emergency exit was through the second floor, where factory officials work.
Besides, the wiring is mostly unconcealed and the factory's workers said they have no fire safety training.
However, Samu Dey, administrative officer of the factory, claimed that the management had given fire preventive training to the workers.
Mir Fazlur Rahman, owner of Mir Fashion Ware Ltd in Doublemooring area, said most of the garment factories cannot install a fully-concealed cabling system due to their set-up pattern.
“We have to rely on open wiring to some extent, as every worker uses an electrical sewing machine. But we mostly try to avoid it,” he said.
The firemen found four RMG factories are set up in a single narrow alley in Mistripara area under Doublemooring Police Station in the city.
Narrow alleys create serious problems of access in case of a fire breakout, said Farid Ahmed Chowdhury, senior station officer of the fire service's Chittagong headquarters.
Another vigilance team found some faults with the wiring system of GH Haewae Company Ltd in Karnaphuli Export Processing Zone.
“We gave the company a month's notice to correct its wiring,” said Md Jashim Uddin, deputy assistant director of the fire service, who led the team.
Moniruzzaman, deputy general manager of Haewae, refuted the allegation and said: "The electric cabling is up to the mark."
“The fire service department made some suggestions, which we will comply with.”
The administrations of the RMG factories visited so far claimed that they provide timely fire safety trainings to their workers.
But when the inspecting teams asked whether they keep any register of the fire fighting drills, they replied in the negative, said Abdul Mannan, assistant director of the fire service.
There was hardly any cautionary notice on fire on the walls of the factories visited by the teams, Mannan said.
If any factory lacks in fire safety standards, it will be given a month's notice to take necessary remedial measures, said Ruhul Amin, deputy director of the fire department.
Companies that will fail to comply with the safety measures will face punitive action through mobile courts, Amin said.
The department will also ask Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association to compel the factory owners to comply with the fire safety measures at their factories, he said.