2 Bangladesh garment factories show effort, lapses

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130621/DA72AAAO0.html

Jun 21, 3:10 PM (ET)

By RAVI NESSMAN

SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) - The walls of the cavernous AKH clothing factory are covered in red arrows. They point to three wide emergency staircases with evacuation plans posted on every floor. They point to fire extinguishers attached to the walls and pillars throughout the factory. They point to medical kits located near designated workers with "First Aid" stitched onto their shirts.

It is the type of factory garment manufacturers hope will persuade Western brands to keep making clothes in Bangladesh despite a recent factory fire and a building collapse that killed more than 1,200 people.


In this Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012 file photo, a Bangladeshi police officer walks past rows of burnt sewing machines in the burned out Tazreen garment factory in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Government investigators said the November fire at the Tazreen factory, which killed 112, was so deadly in part because clothing was stored in the stairwell, which turned the emergency exit into a chimney billowing smoke, fire and toxic fumes from the burning fibers. (AP Photo/Khurshed Rinku, File)


But just down the road, the seamier side of the industry lives on in a tiny, stiflingly hot factory. Very young looking seamstresses sew snowsuits for export at cramped work stations. The aisles are blocked by piles of clothing. Power cords hang haphazardly along the walls.

This is the type of factory the government and the major garment manufacturers have decided must reform or die if the nation's $20 billion-a-year garment export industry is to continue to thrive.

FULL story at link.