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Bangladesh: Lopsided focus on garment hobbles workplace safety

Poor implementation of laws and excessive attention to garment sector are the major challenges for ensuring workplace safety in Bangladesh. This was reiterated at a social dialogue on ‘Safety Situation at Workplace: Progress, Challenges and Remedy,’ jointly organised by Debate for Democracy and Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment (OSHE) Foundation. The speakers also listed the absence of compensation standard, lack of training and awareness about occupational and health safety at workplace, poor and irregular monitoring and no special scheme for workers in the government safety net programs as other challenges.

In 2016, some 1,240 deaths occurred in different workplaces while the highest number of death-486-had been recorded in the transport sector followed by 147 in construction, 88 in garment, 87 are agricultural labour and 69 day labourers. Between 2012 and 2016, 4,616 workers died, while 4,373 were injured due to workplace accidents in the country. The presentation also included the progress so far made in recent years including occupational health and safety policy and move to reform the national council for industry, health and safety, assessment of some 3,500 garment factories under the national initiative and western retailers' platform, database of some 4,808 garment factories, upgrade of chief inspectorate office to a full-fledged department and insurance scheme for construction workers.

State minister for labour Mujibul Haque said about 20,000 inspectors would be needed to inspect some 8.3 million industrial units across the country and this would require much time. Though there is a specific law regarding child labour, children were employed as domestic workers, the minister said, admitting that labour law is not fully implemented.

Explaining the progresses especially after the Rana Plaza building collapse, the minister said the government was continuing its activities in compensating workers taking into consideration the socio-economic condition of the country. OSHE chairperson Rezwana Saki, former fire brigade director general Abu Nayeem Md Shahidullah, and BUET professors Ishtiaq Ahmed and Rowshan Mamtaz were also the part of the discussion.

 
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