From Non-Compliance to Accord Certification: Fire Safety Upgrade for a Bangladesh Garment Factory

The Accord/RSC's engineering inspection of the factory in late 2024 produced a detailed remediation report citing 47 corrective actions across fire detection, suppression, means of egress, structural concerns, and fire safety management. The findings ranged from critical (no automatic fire detection system anywhere in the building) to significant (blocked emergency exit on Floor 4) to administrative (inadequate fire safety training records). The factory had 12 months to close all 47 corrective actions before a re-inspection would be scheduled.

Within weeks of the inspection report, both major international buyers served notice that they would suspend order placement pending evidence of remediation progress. For a factory where these two buyers represented 65% of revenue, order suspension was functionally equivalent to a partial shutdown — existing production commitments could be fulfilled from prior orders, but no new orders would be placed, meaning production lines would begin running empty within 60-90 days. The factory owner held emergency discussions with both buyers and secured a conditional 90-day hold on suspension, contingent on the factory engaging a qualified contractor and providing monthly remediation progress reports.

The 47 corrective actions were prioritized by the Accord into three severity tiers: Critical (must be completed within 3 months), Major (within 6 months), and Minor (within 12 months). The Critical tier included 9 items: installation of automatic fire detection throughout the building, installation of automatic fire suppression in the generator room, emergency exit clearance on Floors 4 and 6, installation of compliant fire doors at stairwell landings on all floors, emergency lighting replacement throughout, and fire safety officer appointment with documented training.

The absence of any automatic fire detection in an eight-floor building with 2,800 workers was the most alarming finding. The building had no smoke or heat detectors at all — only four manually operated fire alarm call points at the building entrance, which required a person to physically find and operate them in the event of a fire. The stairwells — the primary evacuation route for 2,800 people — had no alarm notification devices. A fire starting on the upper floors could go undetected until visible smoke reached the ground floor, by which time evacuation of upper floors would be severely compromised.

The generator room in the basement, housing two 600kVA diesel generators, had no suppression at all — only a 9kg dry powder extinguisher mounted near the door. The generator room had experienced two minor fuel ignition incidents in the past three years (documented in the factory's incident log), both of which had been controlled manually by maintenance staff. These incidents flagged the generator room as a genuinely high-risk environment where the absence of automatic suppression was an unacceptable gap.

Emergency exits were physically blocked on two floors: Floor 4 had fabric rolls stored against the emergency exit door, and Floor 6 had a makeshift storage cage that had been constructed in the emergency exit corridor. Both blockages had been in place long enough that production supervisors appeared unaware they constituted a safety violation.

SSAL designed and installed a complete fire safety system addressing all 47 corrective action items across fire detection, suppression, means of egress, and fire safety management.

Honeywell Addressable Fire Alarm System — 6-Loop FACP: A Honeywell Fire Lite MS-9600 6-loop addressable Fire Alarm Control Panel was installed at the ground floor security station, providing central monitoring for all addressable devices throughout the eight-floor building. The 6-loop configuration supports 480 addressable devices — the installation used 240 devices with 50% spare capacity for future expansion.

240 addressable devices were installed: Honeywell System Sensor optical smoke detectors at 6-metre spacing on all production floors (Floors 1-8), Honeywell System Sensor heat detectors at the generator room, canteen kitchen, and roof plant room, manual call points (break-glass) at every stairwell landing on all eight floors and at all floor exit points, and Honeywell voice-capable sounder/strobe devices at all stairwell landings and production floor announcement points.

The voice sounder capability was specifically required because the production floors operate at high noise levels from machinery, making a conventional tone-only alarm potentially inaudible at workstations. Voice evacuation messages (pre-recorded in Bangla) are broadcast through the sounder/strobe devices, directing workers to evacuate via specific stairwells appropriate to their floor.

Naffco CO2 Suppression — Generator Room: The basement generator room received a Naffco CO2 total flooding suppression system. CO2 was specified for the generator room because it provides superior suppression of liquid fuel and electrical fires — which are the specific risks in a generator room — compared to FM-200. CO2 is not suitable for occupied areas, but the generator room is unmanned during normal operations and the Naffco system includes pre-discharge warning (klaxon and strobe for 30 seconds before discharge) and door interlock that prevents discharge if the door sensor indicates the room is occupied.

The system uses 8 x 45kg CO2 cylinders in a manifolded bank, providing design concentration for the generator room volume. Discharge nozzles are positioned to achieve total flooding across the generator room including under the generator skids where fuel pooling could occur. The pre-discharge warning klaxon is also connected to the Honeywell FACP for logging.

Emergency Lighting and Evacuation Routes: All stairwells on all eight floors received new emergency luminaires with 3-hour battery backup. Emergency exit signs (internally illuminated, photoluminescent border) were installed at all exit points and directional signs at all stairwell landings. The blocked emergency exits on Floors 4 and 6 were physically cleared — this was a zero-cost corrective action that SSAL's site team documented with photographic evidence of before and after conditions.

Fire Doors — Stairwell Landings: 16 new FD60-rated fire doors were installed at stairwell landings on all eight floors, replacing the standard hollow-core doors that provided no fire compartmentation. FD60 doors with intumescent seals and door closers were specified to limit fire and smoke spread between floors via stairwells — the primary egress route — in the event of a floor-level fire.

Fire Safety Training — Floor Wardens: SSAL coordinated a fire safety training programme for 24 designated floor wardens (3 per floor). Training covered evacuation procedures, fire alarm system operation, fire extinguisher use, and assembly point management. Training was delivered by a certified fire safety trainer and documented with attendance certificates for each warden — the format required by Accord for the training records corrective action.

FSCD NOC Application: SSAL prepared and submitted the full FSCD NOC application package, including system layout drawings, device schedule, equipment certifications, commissioning test report, and training records. FSCD NOC was obtained following a physical inspection by FSCD officers in Month 7 of the project.