‘Local plastic goods makers should maintain safety standards to boost exports’

Local plastic goods makers are doing good in Bangladesh but they are failing to increase exports because of their reluctance to maintain fire and health safety compliance in factories, industry stakeholders said today.

They spoke at a workshop on "Factory audit on hazard identification, risk assessment, and control" organised by the Plastic Products Business Promotion Council and the Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) at the Cirdap Auditorium in Dhaka.

Bangladeshi plastic product manufacturers should concentrate more of maintaining health and safety standards if they want to expand their reach in the global market, said Shamim Ahmed, president of BPGMEA.

The BPGMEA has over 2,200 member factories and majority of them are small and medium in size.

Factories with less than 100 manpower are considered as small factories, within 100-300 are medium factories and above 300 large.

The entrepreneurs should be aware of the fire safety issues in their factories as the factory owner may lose everything if a fire breaks out, Senior Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh said at the event.