Govt, garment makers agree to factory inspection rules

The government and garment makers yesterday agreed in principle to follow the National Action Plan (NAP) inspection rules, to ensure fire and building safety in factories, Labour and Employment Secretary Mikail Shipar said.
The ministry, garment makers and International Labour Organisation will sit in meetings with officials of IndustriALL Global Union and North American Alliance, two bodies for factory inspection, on November 7 and 8 to finalise the common checklist, Shipar said.
“If the IndustriALL and Alliance people agree on the NAP, we will finalise the checklists and start inspection as soon as possible,” he added.

Shipar said these after a meeting with stakeholders at the labour ministry in Dhaka yesterday to finalise the checklist for inspection.
The IndustriALL and Alliance signatories will inspect more than 2,000 factories and the labour ministry itself will inspect nearly the same number of factories, Shipar said.
After the Tazreen Fashions fire incident and Rana Plaza building collapse, more than 100 retailers and brands, mainly European, and 22 US-based retailers and brands signed the fire and building safety accord.
The labour ministry has already formed 30 teams led by experts from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology to inspect factories, he said.