& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Garment factory warned of danger before fatal fire

The Sydney morning Herald
The Bangladeshi textile factory that has made material for Kmart, Target, Big W and Just Jeans clothes, and in which a massive factory fire in October killed seven workers, was warned by government inspectors just a week before the blaze that the building was "dangerous to human life".
But despite a formal order to fix the major safety problems, the factory continued to operate without modification.
Australian companies sourcing material from Aswad Composite Mills in Gazipur, 40 kilometres north of the capital Dhaka, say they did not know of the formal warning issued to the factory, but have conceded they never audited it.
Aswad's owners deny there were any faults with the factory, and say criminal charges laid by the government are "false and fabricated".
On October 8, a massive fire broke out at Aswad, when the chimney of a drying machine caught alight, the blaze spreading across the factory's upper floor and further inflamed by metres of fabric and drums of dying chemicals.
Two production units were destroyed and seven employees died, caught upstairs and unable to escape.
Order forms from a host of Western fashion retailers were found in the charred wreckage. Australian companies Target, Big W, Kmart and Just Jeans sourced material from the factory.
On October 2, a week before the fatal blaze at Aswad, the factory was issued with a formal notification by the Bangladeshi government that the building was unsafe for work. The report, signed by government inspector Shahidul Islam, raised nine violations with the company, stating that the building was "dangerous to human life and security", and that the "fire
extinguishers and other fire safety equipment were not maintained in an appropriate manner". The inspector also found: •The factory had been enlarged without approval.
•There was no record of regular maintenance of motors, electric switches and wiring.
•The building was not properly ventilated.
"This is a legal notice to the factory after special inspection. You are required to address these violations within seven days and report this to the authority. The authority is otherwise obliged to take legal action against the factory without prior notification," the government's warning letter said, a copy of which has been obtained by Fairfax Media.
The Bangladesh government says it will file criminal charges against the factory owners. "During the inspection, our factory inspector found that the number
of exhaust fans and the cooling system of the machine room was not sufficient and the walkway in the factory was very narrow," the government's labour secretary, Mikail Shipar, told local reporters.
"Now we are going to file a case against the factory owners as they did not comply with the safety guidelines."
Aswad Composite Mills is owned by Palmal Group, one of Bangladesh's largest garment manufacturers, with 27 factories and more than 25,000 employees. It had exports of $260 million last year.
Palmal managing director Nafis Sikder told Fairfax Media the allegations against the factory were "false and fabricated" and politically motivated. He said the inspection, conducted on September 25, found the factory met all safety requirements. He said the government's letter, dated
October 2, was not received by the factory until after the fire.
'This was a false letter. It was a cover-up by the labour department to show they were doing their job. After [accidents at] Tazreen and Rana Plaza there was a lot of pressure on the government to take action. This letter was to show higher-ups that they were doing that. But it is contradictory to the report we have, which is all positive, 100 per cent positive."
Sikder said the Aswad fire was the first for Palmal in 30 years in the industry.
'This was a tragic incident at our company, and we have the greatest sympathy for all of the families affected. We are standing by the families of our victims ... and we are being as transparent as possible."
The families of those killed have been paid Tk 700,000 ($10,100), in compensation,
from both Palmal and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
Big W, owned by Woolworths, said it did not know of the formal warning issued to Aswad, but claimed it audited all factories from where it sources its products.
"Big W had no direct relationship with Aswad Composite Mills," a spokeswoman said. 'They were a supplier to a supplier, and we were not aware of this document from the Bangladesh government."
Target also said it had no "direct contractual relationship" with the factory.
'The factory had not supplied material for Target clothing since February," a spokesman said. 'Target Australia is always looking to improve worker safety and conditions in its Bangladesh sourcing factories. Our decision to sign the Bangladesh Accord and our commitment to publish details of our factory partners are evidence of that commitment."
Kmart also no longer sources material or garments from the group of factories, according to its recently published list of its suppliers in Bangladesh.
"Kmart has recently released a strengthened ethical sourcing code with the focus on helping our suppliers and their factories improve the safety, security and conditions for people who work in factories we source goods from," a Kmart spokeswoman said.
Kmart was the first Australian company in 2013 to publish a list of its Bangladeshi source factories. Target and Pacific Brands say they will do the same in 2014.
Kmart also offered compensation to victims and their families of the Aswad fire.
Just Jeans did not return calls from Fairfax Media.
The Aswad fire was the latest in a string of industrial disasters in Bangladesh's massive but poorly regulated garment industry. Five fires and building collapses killed more than 1200 workers in the 12 months between November 2012 and October last year, the worst period for industrial accidents in the country's history.
But the garment industry is vital to Bangladesh's economy. The $20 billion industry generates 80 percent of the country's export earnings, and employs more than 4 million workers, many of them women, most of them poor, and with few other employment prospects.
The industry has been vital in lifting millions from poverty but faces increasing pressure from international buyers because of dangerous working conditions, regular industrial calamities, non-existent or corrupt regulation, and industry recalcitrance in fixing systemic problems.
Bangladesh is a desired producer of low-cost clothing because its labour costs are the lowest in the world. The minimum wage for a garment worker was lifted in December from Tk 3,000 taka a month to Tk 5,300.