DHAKA: British experts will this weekend fly for Bangladesh to help improve safety and building standards in the country’s garment sector.

The experts will help address the urgent need for improvements in safety and building standards in the country’s garment sector, Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening announced September 14.

The visit follows the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Savar, Dhaka, in April this year in which over 1,100 garment factory workers lost their lives.

The team of three UK experts, two from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and one from the Better Regulation Delivery Office, will visit at the request of the Bangladeshi building regulations agency to help tackle weaknesses in the industrial building inspections regime. They will do this by:

    
-examining building standards legislation, toughening it up to prevent people from dying in accidents
   
-scrutinising the current inspections regimes for existing and new buildings, including garment factories, and strengthening legislation enforcement
   
-looking at how the UK can help to better enforce building standards, including in collaboration with private sector and International Labour Organisation initiatives.

Their subsequent recommendations will help to protect workers by ensuring building standards and safety measures are properly enforced, as well as making it easier for businesses to comply with their legal obligations.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said: "The tragic factory collapse in Bangladesh in May was a wake-up call about the appalling conditions that workers in the developing world endure to produce cheap clothes."

British retailers and industry bodies like the Ethical Trading Initiative are already working with DFID to play their part in improving safety for workers, Justine added.

The International Development Secretary also said now we are sending out three UK experts to share their wealth of experience in safe and effective building regulation to help prevent future tragedies and save lives.

During his visit to Bangladesh last June, Development Minister Alan Duncan also announced UK support for skills training for 100,000 low-skilled garment and construction workers, to improve overall productivity and help produce higher-value products.

Source: gov.uk
BDST: 0904 HRS, SEP 15, 2013
RS/BSK