Hanging by a thread

Photo: Palash Khan

The term "hanging by a thread' was taken too literally by a certain someone of a certain garment factory. Yesterday's The Daily Star sported a couple of photos of ladders made of rope for emergency evacuation for the said factory workers. One has to possess super power to use such an expedient during an emergency like fire or earthquake.  It is a shame that this half-baked emergency compliance measure did not consider the lives of the factory workers at all.
Let's say we overlook the fact that majority of our population is not experts in climbing, but we cannot overlook the fact that most factory workers in the garment sector are women and are clothed in sari and kameez , non-friendly attires for tasks like climbing down a rope ladder during an emergency. We do not want to imagine what chaos the combination of a rope ladder with sari and scarves may cause. If anything, it would add to the casualty figure.
With the recent disaster in Rana plaza the RMG industry is trying to take extra measures for workers safety. There is added pressure from the buyers abroad as well to comply with workers' safety policies. However, we strongly feel that impractical measures like rope ladders for emergency evacuation are not the kind of steps the factory owners should take. Such a solution is actually a mockery of all the lives lost during disasters in the garments factories and we hope our garments factory owners do not think in such illogical and callous terms.
Our garments sector earns enough, and that is increase every year. Investing a small portion of it to save the lives of the workers should not be anymore a matter of if, but when, and how. Cutting corners in implementing safety compliance is no longer an option and our RMG sector needs to strongly realize that.

The writer is Senior Editorial Assistant, The Daily Star.