Category: General
Country: Bangladesh
Region: Asia
By Mayu Saini
Wed, July 26, 2023 at 3:19 AM GMT+5:30·3 min read
Updated on July 26, 2023.
Twenty people were injured Monday morning after a fire broke out at H&M and Primark supplier Fakir Apparels in Dhaka’s bustling suburb of Narayanganj.
Although no workers died in the Bangladesh garment factory fire, three people were killed, including a fireman. Several other firefighters were injured in the blaze, which they doused by 11:30 a.m.
Fire service officials told the SJ they have yet to determine the cause of the fire, but losses and damage included the property, equipment and garment stock. “We had 10 units that went into service, and were able to extinguish the fire,” a representative said, adding that the fire appeared to originate in the factory’s dyeing unit extension.
Officials for Fakir Apparels, which is also linked to Guess Inc., were not reachable, but local media reported the factory damage as “extensive”.
Narayanganj is home to an estimated 2,409 facilities across industries, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, and hosts several jute mills and related production plants.
Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest apparel exporter after China, with output rising 10 percent to $46.99 billion in the financial year ending June 30, according to Export Promotion Bureau data.
While investigations into the Fakir Apparels factory fire continue, industry officials said Bangladesh is making factory safety a priority, but warned that no area of the garment-producing world is immune to risk. “The fact that there were no fatalities at the factory speaks for itself,” they said, asking not to be named as the incident is still under investigation.
SJ reached out to H&M and Guess for comment. A Primark spokesperson said the company was “concerned” to hear of the Fakir fire.
“We are in touch with the supplier to offer our support and we hope the workers impacted have a quick recovery,” the Irish fast-fashion retailer’s rep said. “The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by the RSC and once we have more details, our team on the ground will work with the supplier and the RSC to understand what corrective measures can be put in place.”
Fakir Apparels is covered under the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC), which inherited the operations of the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety in 2020, and has representatives of the manufacturers, trade unions and brands. The organization continues the Accord’s work monitoring factory safety and carrying out inspections, after the Acord left Bangladesh and has globally as the International Accord, adding a second program country in Pakistan in December 2022.
While the RSC website shows that Fakir Apparels Ltd achieved a 100 percent progress rate and completed the required safety training program, compliance training hasn’t started at the factory extension. Fakir Apparels is seen in the industry as one of the pioneers in factory improvements and in moving towards sustainability. Queen Mathilde of Belgium recognized Fakir Apparels’ carbon-cutting and renewable energy progress when she visited the Narayanganj manufacturing plant in February.
The focus on factory safety has risen over the past decade in Bangladesh, after more than 111 workers died in the Tazreen Fashion Ltd factory fire in Ashulia. The deadly November 2012 incident occurred because fire escape routes were not properly marked, and locked exit gates barred workers from escaping. After the watershed Rana Plaza collapse in 2013 killed more than 1,130 and prompted global brands and retailers to launch fire, structural and worker safety programs, industry watchers believe Bangladesh has blossomed into one of the “safest manufacturing countries in the world”.
“Is it really one of the safest?” one non-governmental organization representative said. “Or is there still much work to be done?”
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