The third international trade expo on ‘Building and Fire Safety’ begins tomorrow (Monday) aiming to bring garment makers closer to the leading international safety equipment vendors and experts. This will also help access to globally-recognised safety equipments. The three-day expo will take place at Bangabandhu International Conference Center in the city jointly organised by Elevate Partners Ltd, Alliance, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Electronics Safety and Security Association of Bangladesh (ESSAB). “Remediation work on garment factories in Bangladesh is going on and such an expo is very important to carry out the post-inspection activities,” Alliance Chief Safety Officer Mark Chubb said. He was speaking at a press conference on Saturday held at Alliance’s office in the city. “Most of the safety equipments need to be imported and considering the demand for such equipments, the expo will bring the internationally-certified makers under one umbrella,” M Rabin, Vice President and Managing Director of Elevate, said. It will create an opportunity for local apparel makers to know about the globally-recognised materials needed for the remediation and select the right ones for the sustainable reform, Mr Rabin, also Managing Director of Alliance, said in response to a question. Alliance never selects any company, rather it is the apparel makers who decide from where and which company they source their safety equipments, he said. Alliance, which inspected a total of 837 garment factories, and almost all factories need some form of remediation, especially fire and electrical issues and access to safety tools and technologies are critical, he said. Responding to another question, he said, on an average, if a factory of 18-20 year-old has four-six floors and 1,000 workers will require investing $250,000 to fix fire and electrical issues. The factory will need to invest five to ten times more if it requires sprinkler system, he added. The expo will be the platform for vendors and factory owners, especially for the SMEs, to discuss the latest advancement of safety, especially fire detection and fighting equipments, organisers said. A total of 36 organisations, including 13 global vendors and four service providers, will showcase their products ranging fire door, hydrant and pump, sprinkler, fire alarm, detection and protection machinery and services. There will also be 11 lecture sessions and two panel discussions, including loan management, remediation technique and installation of fire doors, risk management, and affordable finance during the showcase.
