CELEBRATING WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
Date: 3rd August, 2019
Venue: ECE Building, BUET
Host: IEEE Bangladesh Section
Cohost: IEEE BDS Women in Engineering (WIE) Affinity Group
No. of Participants: 45
A discussion on fire safety took place on the 3rd of August, 2019 at 11 am jointly organized by IEEE Bangladesh Section and WIE AG of IEEE Bangladesh Section. The event started with Professor Dr. Celia Shahnaz, chair, IEEE BDS and founding chair and advisor of WIE, BDS, welcoming the guests and elaborating the objectives of arranging such a session, – which is to develop a working group for solving all the problems technically by encouraging industry academia collaborations and to involve women in this feat. All the guest speakers attending the program introduced themselves. Professor Abdul Hasib Chowdhury, Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology was the opening speaker and he discussed the electrical aspects of fire safety. He also discussed acts, rules and regulations related to electrical and structural safety.
Another speaker was Mr. George Faller, Chief Technical Advisor, improving working conditions in the RMG sector, ILO-Dhaka, Bangladesh. He pointed out the areas of fire safety where Bangladesh needs to focus on. He discussed at length, how modern prescriptive codes are developed, evaluated and implemented as well as integration of fire safety in the design process. The third speaker was Mr. M.R. Khan, CEO of Integrated Risk Consulting Group. He shared some of his experiences while working in field level. He relates how RMG owners comply to their buyers needs rather than the workers for example in an RMG factory fire safety rules were written in English instead of Bangla and the sad fact that Accord and Alliance were established to save reputational hazards for large multi-national companies. The next speaker was Mr. Bazlul Munir, Chief Engineer, Power Grid Company, Bangladesh. He reflected on his company’s limitations in preventing grid fires such as the inability to effectively section and cut down power. He emphasized on prevention of fire incidences by ensuring passive fire protection and prioritizing life over money. The fifth speaker was Mr. Shahriar Iqbal Raj, Assistant professor, Dept. of Architecture, North South University. He stressed how a little bit of awareness and mindfulness on our part can help prevent fire related casualties. Mr. Avipriyo Charkaborty, Assistant Project Engineer, Infrastructure Sustainable Technology Limited was the sixth speaker of the session. He relayed us his experiences of retrofitting several factories to ensure that they comply with fire safety measures. The following speaker was Mr. Shyful Islam Mamum, Managing Director, BanMech Limited. He pointed out some of the reasons fire spread out easily and caused a huge number of casualties in our country, Firstly, he talked about improper house-keeping, and how it results in blocking of fire-exits, narrowing of hall ways and exit paths. He also informed us about different type of fire-extinguishers coded by colors and what should be done in case of a fire incident. The final speaker was Mr. Suyog Vyawahare from Sincos Automations and a member of IEEE, Mumbai Section. He discussed some technical terms such as the difference between LPG and CNG induced fire, wiring specifications etc.
The event was concluded by professor Celia Shahnaz pointing out the outcomes of the session and mentioning what can be done further. The event resulted in dynamic collaboration of a number of industry personalities, technical personalities and academia. A total of 45 participants including the graduate student members and professionals from 16 organizations and 9 industries (Premium Connectivity, Summit Communications and Energypac Limited) were hugely benefitted by this discussion.
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