FACTORY CONDITIONS BANGLADESH
Naz suggests a green space between the sewing and ironing areas to prevent heat transfer between floors, and to provide a relaxing, natural environment for the workers
of the building in a positive way so that the building doesn’t heat up. ‘There are 400-year-old palaces in Dhaka
that don’t have a mechanical ventilation system, but they have thick walls, so the thermal mass is creating the comfort temperature. And having low-level and high- level windows can create a breeze to flow through. It’s a simple strategy – it’s not rocket science.’ As well as a double roof, Naz suggests
creating a two-storey green space between the sewing and ironing areas to prevent heat transfer between floors, and to provide a relaxing, natural environment for the workers. ‘I wanted to come up with simple techniques that actually get adopted,’ she says.
CONDUCTING INTERVIEWS
Before she could conduct her questionnaire with the workers, FaraNaz had to don traditional dress, cover her hair and go to the factory every day for 10 days.
‘There are a lot of social issues, so I couldn’t just go and talk to them because they were fearful of losing their jobs by criticising the owner,’ she says.
‘It was very hard to get permission to go into a factory because I am a woman and they don’t know what you’re doing.’
After setting up her monitoring equipment, Naz was gradually accepted by the workers, who agreed to talk to her about improving conditions in the factories. She carried out the survey in groups.
‘Many of them are illiterate, so someone had to help them understand what the answers were, and how they feel, and I think they started thinking consciously.’
Time for action Naz is currently working with fashion brands and the International Labour Organization (ILO) to try to establish guidelines to create safe and comfortable conditions for garment- factory workers in Bangladesh. Although the ILO has released guidelines,
Naz says these are not climate sensitive. ‘Each country has a different climatic zone, so what works for Vietnam might not work for Bangladesh,’ she says. ‘My view is that we shouldn’t stop
these factories being built – it’s not a good business proposition and it’s not a good social proposition. But what we should be doing is making these factories more health and safety orientated, with better working
54 CIBSE Journal March 2014
conditions, so that we don’t feel guilty when we buy a £2 T-shirt.’ Naz says the ILO’s annual surveys on
factory conditions don’t have a health and wellbeing section, and factory owners will only spend money if a requirement is made by the ILO. In the current political condition, Naz says
it will be too difficult to influence the law, but the ILO – which is responsible for licencing the factories – could have a bigger impact. ‘If the ILO comes up with guidelines that every garment factory has to comply with, that will create a driver,’ says Naz. Over the next few years, Naz will also
work with non-governmental organisations, architects and engineers to raise awareness so they adopt this kind of thinking. ‘Big fashion brands can help to push this agenda because it’s their workers in these factories. At the moment, they’re focusing on fire safety and structural analysis, which is good – but health and wellbeing is just as important. This can’t be achieved until they themselves understand why it’s important.’ Fashion. Vogue. Style. Call it what you
will, some people can’t live without it. In Bangladesh, however, being a fashion victim has a deeper meaning – hopefully that definition will soon change. CJ
References 1 Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Health status of the garment workers in Bangladesh (2003)
2 Considerations in Building and Urban Design Baruch Givoni, (1998); Man, Climate and Architecture (Elsevier architectural science series) by Baruch Givoni (Oct 1969)
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