Factory owners must not feel harassed during inspection: BIDA chairman

Factory owners should not panic or feel harassed during the inspections at industrial factories, insisted Md Sirazul Islam, chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) on Tuesday.

"Inspection team should convince the factory owners that they are in fact helping the factory owners with inspections.", the chairman said while attending a training programme for the inspection team to ensure a safe working environment at factories.

Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) and BIDA jointly organised the programme at the multipurpose hall of BIDA where Salman F Rahman, private industry and investment advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was the chief guest.

A total of 251 participants from 27 teams received training and gathered knowledge in detail on factory inspections.

Referring to the inspection team, Sirazul Islam said "Nothing changes suddenly in one day and that is not your responsibility. Your duty will be to collect information from which we will formulate realistic recommendations to ensure compliance." 

"You won't be designated to award punishment to anyone and the inspection team should not harass any factory owners.", he added.

Committee to ensure safe work environment will inspect necessary safety measures taken by the factories and also inspect whether the factories are following the safety protocols, he stated.

A sub-committee has been formed, led by the executive chairman of BIDA to formulate the working procedures of the committee to ensure a safe work environment. This sub-committee will also submit a report in this regard.

Earlier on 24 July, the government formed a 24-member body led by Salman F Rahman to avert unwanted accidents and ensure the security of workplaces in industrial factories.

On Monday, BIDA formed 27 inspection teams to ensure a safe working environment and prevent accidents in factories and industries.

The Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments and some government organisations led by BIDA formed the teams to begin the inspections.

Primarily, inspection will be operated in selected 1,900 factories in Narayanganj, Dhaka, Gazipur, and Chattogram.

Apart from that, inspection will also be carried out in 5,000 factories and the range of inspection will be expanded with time.  

The initiative has been taken after a fire incident occurred in Hashem Food Factory on 8 July, killing more than 50 people in Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj.