The government has recently selected 13 engineering firms to carry out a detailed engineering analysis (DEA) of ready-made garment factories, officials concerned said. The selected engineering firms will conduct the DEA of the garment units which have already been assessed or to be assessed under the National Tripartite Plan of Action, they added. Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) finalised a list of the engineering firms from a good number of applicants last week. “The second meeting of the taskforce held Thursday last selected the 13 engineering firms after scrutiny,” Syed Ahmed, Inspector General of DIFE, told the FE. The names of the selected firms will be available at the DIFE website shortly, he said, adding the taskforce will also share the list with two apparel apex bodies – Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA). In February, the government decided to pick some engineering firms having expertise to carry out DEA and invited applications from interested firms, Mr Ahmed added. Earlier, the National Tripartite Committee under the Ministry of Labour on December 23 last formed two taskforces to oversee the post-inspection activities, including hiring of consultancy firms to do DEA, approve corrective action plan (CAP) and monitor its implementation of the ongoing garment factory assessment under the government-ILO joint initiative. All the selected firms have sufficient equipment and knowledge of conducting at least two DEA, said Professor Mehedi Ahmed Ansari of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Some 800 garment factories have so far been assessed under the joint initiative and 500 by BUET. BUET recommended DEA for more than 200 out of 500 garment factories after it found structural flaws there, Mr Ansari, also a member of the taskforce, said. The inspection programme under the joint initiative started in November 2013. The teams of BUET engineers gave the factories six-week time for conducting the DEA. On the other hand, an official review panel also asked 45 more factories to do the same. Of them, some 14 units are yet to start the process. The panel headed by the DIFE inspector general was formed in 2013 to decide on closure of any garment factory if found risky or non-compliant during inspection by any of three initiatives – Accord, Alliance and the government-ILO joint programme. Mr Ansari said DEA was recommended for those factory buildings which fail to meet some seven criteria including buildings expanded horizontally or vertically without approval from the authority concerned and when the factory owners or manufacturers of garments in a building failed to provide its drawing, design, soil test, depth of building foundation, scanning or rod and columns and core test and other required documents.
Source: https://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2015/05/31/94777
