Tampaco death toll hits 34

HRW for strong resolve to make factories safer

Another man who suffered serious burn injuries at 'Tampaco Foils' factory fire in Tongi BSCIC Industrial area on Saturday died at a private clinic in the capital on Tuesday night, raising the death toll in the fatal fire incident to 34, reports UNB. The deceased was identified as Monwar Hossain, 34, hailing from Naria upazila in Shariatpur district.
According to Gazipur district administration control room, Monwar died at Northern International Medical College Hospital in Dhanmondi area around 11:30pm.
Army and fire service men have been carrying out their rescue operation at the fire-ravaged factory as 10 people remain missing as per a list made by the district administration.
'Tampaco Foils Ltd' in Tongi BSCIC Industrial Area caught fire in the early hours of Saturday. Our diplomatic correspondent adds: Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based rights body, against the backdrop of the fire at Tampaco has said it will take strong resolve from the government and multinational companies to make Bangladesh’s factories safer. “Rana Plaza was not enough of a wake-up call. Even today, many international brands have not signed up to the Accord (Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord) or the Alliance (Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety),” said a daily HRW brief on Wednesday.
“So workers in the many factories not part of such initiatives rely on the Bangladeshi labour inspectorate and third party auditors to sound the alarm over dangerous working conditions,” it said.
 “But Tampaco once again forces everyone concerned to confront the elephant in the room: whether third party audits are an effective model of ensuring safe conditions, or merely a fig leaf,” it added.
Last weekend, a fierce fire ripped through a three-storey packaging factory and eventually caused the building to collapse.
 The death toll so far at Tampaco Foils Ltd is 33 workers, with dozens more injured, according to the report, adding that the horror of worker deaths is overshadowing Eid celebrations in Bangladesh.
“Before it was reduced to ruins, Tampaco counted Nestle in Bangladesh and British American Tobacco among its multinational clients,” it said.
The report also said, “The Bangladesh government has announced compensation for the victims and ordered an investigation. Criminal complaints have reportedly been filed, including against the factory owner, who is a former member of parliament.”
“But this latest disaster begs the question: how many more people need to die before Bangladesh finally tackles its unsafe factories?” it posed a question
The 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse, which killed more than 1,100 garment workers and injured 2,000 more, finally forced the Bangladesh government, international clothing brands, and western governments to take some concrete action on worker safety, stated the report.
“The historic Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord, signed by global unions and international apparel brands, created a new inspection system for fire and building safety with a degree of transparency previously unknown in the industry. Another initiative, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, was led mostly by American brands,” it said. “These initiatives were acknowledgments not just of the Bangladesh government’s failure, but also serious gaps in the due diligence of multinationals, which often rely on third party auditing,” it added.
Following the Tampaco fire, the report said that a spokesperson for Nestle wrote to Human Rights Watch saying that a third party auditor visited Tampaco factory in 2011 and that “[a]ll of the findings relating to health and safety were rectified by the time of a follow up inspection in December 2012.”
British American Tobacco did not respond to Human Rights Watch’s specific questions about when and by whom they had the factory last inspected, it said.

Tampaco death toll hits 34

HRW for strong resolve to make factories safer

Another man who suffered serious burn injuries at Tampaco Foils factory fire in Tongi BSCIC Industrial area on Saturday died at a private clinic in the capital on Tuesday night, raising the death toll in the fatal fire incident to 34, reports UNB. The deceased was identified as Monwar Hossain, 34, hailing from Naria upazila in Shariatpur district. According to Gazipur district administration control room, Monwar died at Northern International Medical College Hospital in Dhanmondi area around 11:30pm. Army and fire service men have been carrying out their rescue operation at the fire-ravaged factory as 10 people remain missing as per a list made by the district administration. Tampaco Foils Ltd in Tongi BSCIC Industrial Area caught fire in the early hours of Saturday. Our diplomatic correspondent adds: Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based rights body, against the backdrop of the fire at Tampaco has said it will take strong resolve from the government and multinational companies to make Bangladeshs factories safer. Rana Plaza was not enough of a wake-up call. Even today, many international brands have not signed up to the Accord (Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord) or the Alliance (Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety), said a daily HRW brief on Wednesday. So workers in the many factories not part of such initiatives rely on the Bangladeshi labour inspectorate and third party auditors to sound the alarm over dangerous working conditions, it said. But Tampaco once again forces everyone concerned to confront the elephant in the room: whether third party audits are an effective model of ensuring safe conditions, or merely a fig leaf, it added. Last weekend, a fierce fire ripped through a three-storey packaging factory and eventually caused the building to collapse. The death toll so far at Tampaco Foils Ltd is 33 workers, with dozens more injured, according to the report, adding that the horror of worker deaths is overshadowing Eid celebrations in Bangladesh. Before it was reduced to ruins, Tampaco counted Nestle in Bangladesh and British American Tobacco among its multinational clients, it said. The report also said, The Bangladesh government has announced compensation for the victims and ordered an investigation. Criminal complaints have reportedly been filed, including against the factory owner, who is a former member of parliament. But this latest disaster begs the question: how many more people need to die before Bangladesh finally tackles its unsafe factories? it posed a question The 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse, which killed more than 1,100 garment workers and injured 2,000 more, finally forced the Bangladesh government, international clothing brands, and western governments to take some concrete action on worker safety, stated the report. The historic Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord, signed by global unions and international apparel brands, created a new inspection system for fire and building safety with a degree of transparency previously unknown in the industry. Another initiative, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, was led mostly by American brands, it said. These initiatives were acknowledgments not just of the Bangladesh governments failure, but also serious gaps in the due diligence of multinationals, which often rely on third party auditing, it added. Following the Tampaco fire, the report said that a spokesperson for Nestle wrote to Human Rights Watch saying that a third party auditor visited Tampaco factory in 2011 and that [a]ll of the findings relating to health and safety were rectified by the time of a follow up inspection in December 2012. British American Tobacco did not respond to Human Rights Watchs specific questions about when and by whom they had the factory last inspected, it said.