First Fair Wear safety trainings for factory managers in Bangladesh

The first three FWF workshops on Building and Fire Safety for Bangladeshi factory managers have successfully taken place in the first week of March. 112 factory managers, FWF brand managers and compliance representatives of buying offices joined the workshops in Dhaka.

FWF’s project leader Bablur Rahman talked about identifying safety risks in garment factories with the workshop participants. Then they discussed who is responsible for ensuring workplace safety.  Dutch safety specialist Erik Wiersma and engineer Anton Oudshoorn provided insight in prevention measures related to building safety, and shared their knowledge on escape routes, extinguishing fires and alerting people.

Building and Fire Safety is a serious and urgent issue in Bangladeshi factories. During the workshops concrete measures on solving safety issues were discussed, as first steps towards making garment factories safer places to work.  The trainings form the initial stages of FWF’s Enhanced Programme for Monitoring and Remediation in Bangladesh.

Fact-finding mission
FWF’s expert advisory committee for Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh is currently in Dhaka for the second time, following a fact-finding mission in December. Based on the input of the experts, FWF urges its affiliates sourcing in Bangladesh to join the Accord on Fire and Building Safety. At the same time, FWF has started training factory management to provide a crucial basis for discussing remediation.

Currently, fourteen FWF members source at approximately 300 factories in Bangladesh. More one-day management workshops about Building and Fire Safety are in the pipeline. All factories in Bangladesh supplying FWF affiliates are required to participate in one of the workshops.