Winnipeg man to help mend Bangladesh garment industry

A Winnipeg fire expert has a new job in Bangladesh.

BradLoewenis the new chief safety inspector in charge of cleaning up that South Asian country's garment industry.

• Bangladesh garment workers' lives still at risk,the fifth estatefinds
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He was appointedby a consortium of retailers, international unions and watchdog groups who signed an accord to improve fire and building safety.

The accord was signedin the wake of a deadly factory collapse in April.More than 1,100 garment workers were killed when theRanaPlaza,an eight-storey commercial building, came crashing down.

Fires in garment factories in that country have also claimed hundreds of lives in recent years.

Loewen, who moves to Bangladesh in December, saidimmediate changes must be made.Dangerous working conditions remain widespread in the garment industry, a recentinvestigation by CBC's the fifth estate has found.

• the fifth estate:Made in Bangladesh

"The problem is so enormous that any small inroads one can make into it can have a huge impact in saving lives," he said.

Loewenwill be in charge of hiring inspectors to improve safety in the garment industry.

Exiting and getting people out of there safely when there is an incident is, of course, primary to any life safety building concerns being secondary [to that]," he said.