No more Spectrums!

There was a hue and cry not only from the families of the dead workers. Widespread condemnation for gross criminal negligence was followed by demands for attributing liability of the owners, the trade association and regulatory agencies.

The publicity this incident received both at home and abroad prompted renewed promises from the BGMEA and BKMEA for steps to ensure safety measures. Some payments by way of compensation were also promised to the families of the dead workers.

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But promises are soon forgotten in Bangladesh as economic and political interests prevail. Before the year was out BGMEA's promise was put to the test again as one of its members KTS Textile and Garment Industries in Kalurghat caught fire on February 23, 2006. The gates were locked, the internal stairs were blocked with goods and there was no alternate exit.

The official death toll was estimated at 63; over a hundred were injured and of these 49 were admitted to hospital. Thirteen workers were under treatment for critical burns in Chittagong Medical College Hospital and in the Burn Unit in the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Later three of them were reported to have succumbed to burn injuries. Many others injured were given medical care by voluntary organizations, and they were not listed amongst casualties.

A day later, faulty construction, to convert the former Phoenix Garments Building into a five hundred bed hospital, led to its sudden collapse, killing at least 22 construction workers and injuring 42. In all three incidents there was no accounting for the many missing, because the rescue operations were themselves handicapped by inadequate equipments and expertise.

The frequency of such incidents and numbers of casualties makes the industry a poor employer, even if it does claim to provide employment to at least two million workers. Between 1991 and 2005, 350 were killed in 24 fire incidents in garment factories! No records were available on incidents where there were no casualties.

After the KTS disaster, the garment industry seems to have woken up and announced the formation of 10 inspection teams to survey which factories keep their gates closed, their stairs blocked. They have also given notice to factories to construct alternative exit stairs within 45 days of the notice, that is by now.

Fair enough. But how transparent and credible are these inspections likely to be? Even if they include representatives of two regulatory agencies, the Inspector of Factories and the Fire Service Department, we know how prone they have been to evade their responsibilities in the first place. The inspection teams include no workers' representatives. The inspection is supposed to have started from 1 April, but, except for an initial findings against 53 factories, the public has not been informed regularly of its outcome. A weekly record of factories visited by the teams and those found defaulting would go some way to establish credibility.

In fact the garment export industry could have avoided its reputation as a death trap if it had paid attention to court orders to correct its defaults:

• In 2001 the High Court directed that government agencies and BGMEA set up a National Commission of Enquiry to investigate the causes of industrial disasters and to take appropriate remedial measures; it called for workers' representation in this body. This was not complied with.
• In 2005, the High Court again pressed for reports on the causes of fire accidents and measures to prevent such accidents. While the BGMEA submitted a report by its engineers that indicated that the construction faults led to the collapse of Spectrum Sweater Industries, the Inspector of Factories and the Director General of Fire Services did not submit any report.
• The High Court also gave directions that the Bangladesh Bank reject loan applications from factories that have not obtained proper licences from the regulatory bodies and clearance from the BGMEA and BKMEA. Has the Bank observed these directions?
• In 2006, the High Court has once again asked for compliance with its previous directions and has called for payment of appropriate compensation to families of dead workers and for the treatment and rehabilitation of injured workers. These directions have yet to be complied with in full.

The court hearings in the KTS case are due. There is a pressing need for compliance so workers can meet the orders without fear of being trapped in an inferno. With international buyers subject to embarrassing questions by their consumers, and the national media echoing citizens' concerns, the pressure is rising on the industry for work place compliance.

But the efforts of the BGMEA may not go far enough to avoid work place casualties, if its monitoring is limited to only three specifications. It is necessary for garment factories to ensure safety by checking on the wiring, maintaining dual exits on every floor, and installing equipment such as smoke and heat warning signals, sand buckets, etc. In addition the fire drills need to be done more seriously and not as tokenism. An efficient, conscientious, industrial management is essential to maintain a competitive advantage; merely lowering production cost is not the only variable.

The question of compensation needs to be taken up more seriously through appropriate court intervention or legislative changes. Currently industrial giants have found an escape in archaic laws to part with Tk 21,000 in case of a worker's death. How can anyone assume that this paltry amount would compensate for a worker who was in the prime of his/her life, and would have supported several dependents for their basic needs of food security, education and health?

A revision of laws is urgently called for so that beneficiaries of a dead worker include his/her natal family dependents and spouse/partner. The calculations could be a lump sum based upon calculations of a worker's age, working life span, number of dependents. Compensation must also be allowed for injuries to cover cost of treatment and rehabilitation, including limb replacement or equipment for disabilities, if necessary. It was immoral of the owner and the association to disown their responsibility to those who were disabled by the Spectrum collapse.

The small amount contributed towards their treatment in the initial stage was not adequate so buyers too contributed towards the treatment of the workers. This could be a useful precedent for establishing buyers' responsibility as well. But till today workers disabled by the accident are without any support and have to struggle for survival. BGMEA has shown more concern for workers injured in the KTS fire but even so their long term rehabilitation needs have been left unaddressed.

Compliance with safety conditions can be met by both short term measures and long term planning to:

• Design stronger, regulatory measures to prevent work place fires due to faulty wiring or other construction defects.
• Introduce practices such as regular fire drills, maintaining open exits to prevent stampedes. Maintain fire drill records.
• Organize and train workers' teams on each floor to ensure disciplined egress during fire accidents.
• Restructure the Inspectorate of Factories for efficient enforcement of its responsibilities; to ensure that all safety conditions are in place before licensing factories.
• Set up a tripartite system for monitoring and inspection of safety conditions, to include workers and human rights organizations, in the interest of transparency and efficiency, and to make the reports public.
• Calculate compensation for death and injury commensurate to the loss incurred in each case.
• Allot public land with proper infrastructure, without delay, and relocate factories away from congested urban areas.
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It is time that both the state and the industry recognize their responsibility to workers, and not merely gloat over the foreign exchange accumulated from its exports. They have not only legal responsibility but a moral obligation towards maintaining a healthy industry.

Hameeda Hossain is convenor of the Sromik Nirapotta Forum.