Fire safety a priority in Cambodian garment units - ILO

April 13, 2013 (Cambodia)

Urgent attention must be given to fire safety in the Cambodian garment and footwear industry according to a new report released by the International Labour Organization’s Better Factories Cambodia program (BFC).
BFC’s 29th Synthesis Report on Working Conditions in Cambodia’s Garment Sector released, finds a worrying increase in fire safety violations. The number of factories abiding by the legal requirement to keep access paths free of obstructions unprecedentedly decreased by 30% to 57% compliance during the reporting period.

“Our report findings demonstrate that improvements are not being made in many key areas of working conditions and this is likely to be in large part due to the rapid growth of the industry. However, growth should not result in an increase in non-compliance among factories in an area as intrinsic to worker safety as having clear access pathways”: said Jill Tucker, Chief Technical Advisor of ILO-Better Factories Cambodia.
She continued: “Recent garment sector fire tragedies in neighboring countries demonstrate the great need for Cambodia to address this issue in the interest of worker safety.”

The report also finds no significant change in areas known to contribute to fainting incidents. Non-compliance with the legal of limit of no more than two hours of overtime per day remains persistently high at 88%.

78% of factories monitored were found to have unacceptable heat levels representing an increase of 6% in the number of factories out of compliance with this requirement since the last report. In addition, workplace cleanliness has declined by 17% and 55 % of the factories have not provided sanitary means for drinking water.

The 29th Synthesis Report reflects compliance data from monitoring reports completed between May 1, 2012 and October 31, 2012. During this six-month period, Better Factories Cambodia produced monitoring reports for 130 garment factories and six footwear factories.