Improving Fire and General building Safety

Ready-Made Garment (RMG) is a strategic sector for the Bangladeshi economy, with an estimate of 3,500 export factories in operation, providing a source of employment for over 3.5 million workers. The industry exports totalled $19 billion in 2011-2012, which makes Bangladesh the world's second-largest apparel exporter. However, repeated massive industrial accidents put in evidence precarious working conditions in the sector, and made clear that building safety and occupational safety and health (OSH) need urgent attention. Key contributors to the problem are: multiple responsibility for town planning, weak enforcement of standards for construction, insufficiently developed inspection systems, absence of collaboration among authorities at the different levels, chronic lack of adequate numbers of trained staff in both the building and factory approval and inspection processes, and lack of a culture of compliance. At the factory level, there is a tragic lack of awareness among workers, supervisors and mid-level managers on working conditions and OSH issues. As a result, managers are not able to handle crisis situation. Moreover, production incentive systems and attendance bonus systems put pressure on workers who are regularly compelled into going to work when safety conditions are not met. Recent tragedies such as Rana Plaza spurred the Bangladeshi tripartite partners into taking a series of steps to improve fire safety and structural integrity in the RMG sector. International multi-stakeholders initiatives also emerged such as the Accord on Fire and Building Safety, and the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety led by American brands and suppliers. The ILO has been requested by constituents in the RMG sector to support and coordinate these efforts, and has already allocated substantial resources and expertise in this respect. This project comes in support of these actions, with the overall aim of improving fire and building safety in Bangladesh’s RMG sector. To this end, the ILO proposes, in close collaboration and coordination with relevant national and international stakeholders and partners, to (1) enhance national enforcement of relevant fire and general building safety laws and regulations consistent with international labour and fire and building standards and good practices. To this end, it is proposed to: i) support the process to review and upgrade the current fire and safety building regulatory framework and strengthen coordination mechanisms among relevant Government institutions; ii) support the process to review and upgrade specific labour inspection tools and procedures related to fire and building safety issues; iii) enhance the capacities of inspectors from MoLE and other relevant entities to conduct fire and building safety inspection visits, iv) support fire and building assessment of RMG factories in Bangladesh; and v) establish a fire and building safety data system. The project will also seek to (2) improve representation and protection of workers in the RMG sector, as well as dialogue among tripartite constituents regarding fire and safety issues. It will do so by: i) implementing a comprehensive Information, Education and Outreach campaign on fire and building safety issues; ii) establishing, training and supporting the functioning of mandated bipartite factory-level OSH committees; and iii) promoting effective bi-partite and tripartite dialogue on fire and safety related matters at factory and sector levels. By implementing this strategy, the immediate risks of further fires and building collapses will be minimized, and, in the long term, the capacity of the industry to enable further growth in a manner that safeguards the rights and safety of workers will be built and sustained.

Project symbol

BGD/13/08/USA

Admin unit

CO-Dhaka

Start date

08/11/2013

End date

31/01/2017

Total allocation

1500000

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

1465959

Development Partners

USA, Department of Labor, Bureau for International Labor Affairs

Country/Countries

Bangladesh

Outcomes

Promoting workplace compliance through labour inspection