Fire Fighting

Just yesterday Ludo, my coworker and I were at a local factory waiting for the firemen to inspect the facility.  The factory occupies several floors of an older building.  It’s probably one of our busiest contract facilities in Canada.  It was cramped with people, boxes and machines in each nook and cranny.  The administrative office was squeezed into the original reception area with desks lined side by side and in three rows.   Given what we saw we sought advice from the Vancouver fire department.

On a typical rainy Vancouver day, three firemen visited the facility to assess its compliance to city fire codes.  They toured the building and evaluated the corridors and exits, sprinkler systems and permits.  Overall, they found the factory in a "good" state compared to some of the workplaces they’ve shut down.    The crowdedness was acceptable.  However, they instructed the factory to clearly label the fire panel and sprinkler room, and to have at least 18 centimeters of free space from the tip of a sprinkler.  They also suggested the factory be a little more keen with its housekeeping.  Upon completing the inspection, the firemen politely thanked us for requesting their services. 

In some of our Asian factories the equivalent methodicalness in enforcing a fire code is spotty.  One factory, wishing to comply with local standards, reported that it struggled unsuccessfully to get a permit from it’s local fire marshals.  Another noted that when an inspector arrives, it’s not uncommon for him to solicit a "legislated" fee or payment.  This laxness and creative taxation hinder compliance to fire standards and ultimately safer factories.  Combine this with those factory managers who themselves are lackadaisical about safety and we have a potentially dangerous work environment.

Making factories safer is a concerted effort between brands, factories, workers and host governments.  We monitor a factory for its conformity to basic fire codes like accessible fire exits, functioning extinguishers and workable evacuation plans.  For the most part factories and workers support these initiatives because of the obvious self interest.   Ironically, not all levels of government are supportive.  In one factory, the local council (who happened to also be the landlord of the factory MEC was considering) refused to upgrade the workers dorm which had only one exit and bars on every window on every floor.  It the event a fire engulfs the one exit, all the workers residing in the dorm would be in serious trouble.  For this reason and a number of others, we indefinitely suspended our relationship with the factory.  Regrettably, leaving the factory though doesn’t make it safer. 

The lack of foresight by local governments to actively and properly enforce a fire code is a reflection of the bigger governance issues facing developing economies.  In these societies, codes are often primitive and the people enforcing them are poorly resourced or trained.  Addressing these challenges would contribute significantly to making factories safer in terms of fire hazards.