The Accord on Fire and Building Safety (checklist of works to do for RMG Factories in

Bangladesh)
The Accord is a legally binding agreement between international and national trade unions and
international brands and retailers (Companies). Over 140 international brands and retailers have
now signed the Accord. 4 international labor NGOs are witnesses to the agreement. The
International Labor Organization (ILO) acts as the independent chair.
The aim of the Accord is the implementation of a program for reasonable health and safety
measures to ensure a safe and sustainable Bangladeshi Ready Made Garment industry for a
period of five years.
The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (Accord) shall be inspecting all factories
producing for signatory brands for fire, electrical and structural safety. The Accord is committed
to doing utmost to schedule the fire and electrical safety inspections for the same day and, to the
extent possible, the structural. Each inspection requires approximately one day to complete.
The Accord is willing to help prepare for the inspections, to ensure they are conducted
efficiently, and in the effort to minimize any disruption to the normal production at RMG
factories. A correspondence also receives directly from the Accord signatory brands produced at
factories related to the accord Bangladesh inspections and remediation plans processes.
In these regards the following is needed to be considered:
The Accord inspection team will provide written, advance notice of the date(s) of the 3
inspections (fire, safety, structural). Such letter will be sent to the factory and to each of the
brands produced at the factory.
The necessary documentation for the inspections should be prepared and ready for the inspectors
to review on their arrival. These documents include: the original building plan (architects
drawings/blueprints) for the factory and same for any additions to the building subsequent to the
original construction.
A management and worker representative should accompany the inspection teams to observe the
inspections.
Within two weeks of the completion of all 3 initial inspections, factory will receive the reports
and remediation requirements identified through the initial inspections. Factory will be offered
one week to provide comments on the reports to the Chief Safety Engineer (CSI). The CSI will
then finalize the reports and necessary remediation. The final report and remediation plan will
be concluded in consult with the factory owner, the signatory brands produced at that factory,
and the Accord engineering team.

During the course of finalization of the reports and remediation plan described above, factory
owner must confirm that he understands the reports and will fully execute, within the provided
timelines, all of the identified necessary remediation from the inspection reports. In case of
facing difficulty regarding the resources to complete these required remediation, factory
authority should discuss options for identifying sources for the required resources with the
Accord signatory brands producing at that factory. This does not mean the brands will directly
provide factory the needed resources but they are obligated to work with that factory to find the
resources. It needs to be noted that the reports and necessary remediation will be simultaneously
provided to the factory owner, each brand produced at the factory, and the worker
representatives.
One important fact is within 6 weeks of the initial reports, the results of the inspection reports
and necessary remediation will be published on the Accord website. Updates on implementation
of the remediation measures shall also be published. This is an important component of the
Accords commitment to transparency and an excellent opportunity for supplier factories to
demonstrate their adherence to Accord requirements to brands, buyers, consumers, media, and
others monitoring conditions in the Bangladesh RMG sector. Supplier factories which do this
receive positive publicity through the published updates. The accord Bangladesh, by its design,
is remedial not punitive. The Accord will film some of the inspections for internal and external
communications purposes. The filming will be valuable to the training on safety and health with
management and worker representatives, will assist in implementing corrective actions, and can
serve as an effective means to demonstrate the commitment and cooperation of the brands,
suppliers, and workers to safe factories in Bangladesh. Accordingly, inspections at any factory
may be filmed. This will be done in a coordinated manner.
The Accord staff and the Accord signatory brands produced at the factory shall work with that
factory throughout the above described components of the inspections and follow up.
Fire safety check:
A check will be carried out to assess whether all the rooms & sections have been covered with
fire protection and save evacuation & the following documents will be checked as well:
All fire safety training related documents.
Fire license is available and updated.
Evacuation plans are posted.
Fire equipment points.
Width of each staircase is ok.
Roof top is free.
Reserve water available.

 Aisle mark provided & aisles kept clear.

Congestion inside the floor.
Assembly point is available.
Possible source of smoke can be spread to other floors in case of fire in any floor.
Safe & easy evacuation for workers.
Number of exits + free from any obstacle + if any possible fire risk/other risk is there when
workers will get out during an emergency.
For any storey with only two exits, the maximum occupant load should not exceed 500 people.
For any storey with only three exits, the maximum occupant load should not exceed 1000 people.
For rooms with more than 49 occupants, doors must swing in the direction of egress (i.e. the
doors must swing out of the room).
For areas with more than 49 occupants, doors should be equipped with panic hardware (crash
bars)
Sufficient Exit lights in the floor.
Sufficient Emergency lights are provided.
Fire fighting team & its activities/training available + photo displayed.
Practical check of a fire hose reel to see the water pressure etc.
Practical check of a fire extinguisher to see its effectiveness.
Practical check of fire alarm.
Fire drill records.
Check maintenance records of all fire equipment (fire hose reel, SMD , fire extinguisher etc)
DB board areas are free & safety warning is available.
Any loose wiring.
Building stability check:
Soil test report
Building approval plan
Check of design & drawing
Some practical check of pillar beam thickness / width of every roof & stair + other some
engineering checks.
Construction methods/process.
Electrical check of The Accord Bangladesh:
Electrical design & drawing
Electrical distribution
Load capacity of the accord bangladesh

 Temperature check in Distribution Board (DB). DB is a panel carrying the fuses, terminals, and
other components of a number of subsidiary electric circuits.
Earthing resistance of transformer, generator + lightning arrestor and its setting diagram.
BBT check (if any other electrical line in there except BBT). BBT or Bus Bar Trunking
system is a replacement to traditional cable and panel distribution. Busbar trunking is
a consistent, comprehensive and prefabricated system designed for buildings, tertiary and
industrial sectors.
Oil meter of transformer check.
Switch gear & PFI (power factor indicator) load capacity from digital display check.
Single line diagram
Main feeder line check on how the electrical connection & supply has been taken into
factory.
Distribution board phase colour (3 phase is there and should be 3 different colours RED,
YELLOW, BLUE & there is a neutral phase & that should be BLACK).
Door earthing of each DB.
Rubber mat thickness placed in Generator room, Boiler room + DB room + all DBs in the
floor (should be minimum of 5 mm)
BBT passed through the wall hole (should not be any hole & to be filled up)
All DBs should be cleaned and dust free + vermin free always.
Leakage/gap in DB board (if need a gap for any reason, then that gap should be protected by
steel net).
Generator operator certification (need a certificate from the generator supplying company, that
the operator is able to operate the generator and necessary training has been provided in regards
to generator operating, but if any renowned company provides any training /certification instead
that will also be accepted by the accord bangladesh
Rubber hand gloves + rubber boot used in generator room + boiler room.
ECC (earth continuity connector) is to be in all machines + all switch board. ECC is a third
conductor with line and neutral in main distribution system, bonded to earth, provided for
connection to any metal component not in the electrical circuit: for safety purposes.