Design and Remediation for Fire Safety of Ready-Made

Garment Factories in Bangladesh

Felipe Herrera – Arup Fire

Outline

• Introduction• Background• Project 1: Getting to know Bangladesh• Project 2: Training fire-fighters• Project 3: Analysing factories for fire safety• Project 4: Ongoing training project• Conclusions

Background

• Proliferation of RMG industrial buildings in Bangladesh• RMG accounts for 80% of national exports• Weaknesses in planning design and construction• No clear authorities responsible of enforcing laws• Rana Plaza structural collapse and Tazreen fire among others• Collective action from national and international initiatives

• Weaknesses in planning design and construction.

• Rana Plaza structural collapse

Background

Shoe Factory, Manila Philippines May 2015 (72 deaths)

Garment Factory, Dhaka Bangladesh, Nov. 2012 (117 deaths) – Tazreen fire

Background• Fire incidents

Who is responsable for fire safety design in the building process?

• Fire Services – 16 out of 25 junior engineers reacted• Rajuk – 9 out of 25 • Desco – 5 out of 25 • Building Approval Authority – 1 out of 25 • Public Works Department – 4 out of 25 • Architect or ‘S.M.E.P’ engineers – 2 out of 25• Others – 3 out of 25

Background

Project 1 – Getting to Know Bangladesh

• 1st visit to Bangladesh• Fire safety training for surveyors• Guidance for survey report production• Data gathering and factory safety report analysis

Project 1 – Findings

• Fire safety in Bangladesh is linked to a sociological complexity• Solutions linked to: culture, RMG industry, idiosincracy of

people, economy, design processes, approvals• Fundamental flaws Industry wide solutions• Global influences are clearly present• Role of fire practitioner is complex everywhere

Project 1 – Getting to Know Bangladesh

Collective Action

• National Tripartite• Government (ILO), Factory employers + Accord + Alliance

• Phase 1 – Inspections• Phase 2 – Detailed assessments• Phase 3 – Remedial Works• Phase 4 – Sustained local process

Project 2 – Training Fire-Fighters (FSCD)• Understanding of the basic design principles behind fire safety

engineering practice as envisaged by (BNBC 2006). • Assess fire safety issues on garment factories and understand

remedial actions being proposed by reports • Understanding of the design principles behind the requirements

for means of escape• Understanding of what an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) should

consist of and how responsibilities should be assigned.

Project 2 – Training Fire-Fighters (FSCD)

Project 2 – Findings

• Fire safety principles shall be taught and learned within a longer educational process

• Some fundamental safety issues were completely foreign and design techniques have developed through the years with a gap in these fundamental topics.

• E.g.‘no-protection’ of stairs in multi-story buildings • A few years will be needed for knowledge to permeate down

Project 2 – Training Fire-Fighters (FSCD)

Project 2 – Training Fire-Fighters (FSCD)

Project 3 – Analysing Factories for Fire Safety

• In 2.5 years ILO surveyed 1350 factories (40%)• Remediation of factories outside of Accord +

Alliance initiative• Capacity building of state and industry entities• Fire safety approvals entities• Ensure ‘step change’ forward in industry

AccordAlliance

ILO/Government1350 (40%)

Project 3 – Analysing Factories for Fire Safety • Provide international educational support (not only fire!) • Sharing fire engineering and safety knowledge• Training and technical guidance given throughout the surveying

process• A long-run process to assess, guide, improve and refurbish factories

for clear set out safety improvements• The benchmark was agreed and developed by many stakeholders

under a governmental framework and initiative

Project 3 – Analysing Factories for Fire Safety

Project 3 – Analysing Factories for Fire Safety

• Priority fire safety measures1. Effective fire detection systems2. Automatic fire alarm systems 3. Protected escape routes4. Fire separation of areas with unusually high fire loads

• Typical most critical defficiencies• Endemic, no matter age or location of the building

Project 3 – Findings

• ‘risk factors’ to have a reference or ‘rule of thumb’ framework of when a factory could have a higher or lower qualitative fire risk

1. High rise buildings2. Multi-tenancy buildings3. Having a ground floor with mixed uses4. Having a basement5. Having a mezzanine

Project 3 – Findings

• Based on this approach:• 31% were considered ‘high risk’; with 12% of these having 3 or more

risk factors present;• 39% present one risk factor;• 30% present no risk factors therefore can be considered ‘lower risk’ in

terms of fire safety and safe evacuation.• Even with zero ‘risk factors’ the factories could still display many

fire safety deficiencies.

Project 4 – Means of Evacuation

Project 4 – Protection of Stairs

Project 4 – Ongoing Training Project• Build capacity and skills that engineers will require in the future• Develop knowledge in fire, electrical and structural engineering• Building design in a regulatory context:

• Technical surveys• Design of new buildings• Retro-fitting and remedial works• Building Codes and Standards• Regulatory framework and procedures

Conclusions

• Work in Bangladesh started as a conventional project• Addressing the issues turned out to be a ‘mission‘• A tragedy can give rise to change

Conclusions

• Technical knowledge – Technically skilled people (From Intl. sources?)

• Fire safety is more than design – Vigilance at all levels – training, design, approvals, implementation & maintenance

• Regulatory framework – Responsibilities and accountability to be understood

• Fire risks and costs – For financial benifit analyses, too

• Resilience and safety risks – Fire risks may be undermined

Conclusions• Is SFPE having a direct impact on the entire range of countries, from the

highest developed ones to the lowest developed ones?• Are fire engineered solutions or performance-based approaches practical

or relevant in middle income and low income countries that are lacking fundamental fire safety practices?

• Would international standards such as ISO standards be helpful, if developed towards an international market of developing countries in parallel to their local building codes?