A major new campaign titled ‘Safe Workplaces, Go ahead Bangladesh’ was launched in the capital yesterday, aiming to raise awareness of basic Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) issues and their prevention in Bangladesh’s RMG sector.The Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Department of Inspections for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO) with funding from Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom will carry out the radio-based campaign.To have better recognition amongst RMG workers, supervisors and managers, well-known TV celebrity Mosharraf Karim will support a number of campaign activities.Speaking at the launching ceremony in the city, Labour and Employment Secretary Mikail Shipar said efforts to improve workplace safety remain the highest priority for the government of Bangladesh.”This campaign will reach out to RMG workers to help them better understand many safety areas. I also firmly encourage owners and managers to listen as they too have an equal responsibility regarding safety and health,” he said. ILO Country Director for Bangladesh Srinivas Reddy said this safety campaign is certain to benefit a large number of RMG workers. “It’s vital however that the efforts to build a culture of safety in Bangladesh begin to go beyond the all-important RMG sector.”A series of 19 radio episodes will be broadcast on Dhaka FM 90.4 on Thursday and Friday evenings at 10pm starting from March 31.Each radio episode of 30-minute duration will focus on a specific OSH related issue. The episodes will feature a drama format as well as songs and discussion. The first show will cover ‘what to do in an emergency’ while others include electrical safety, earthquakes, good housekeeping and hygiene.A series of safety-related radio commercials will be broadcast on Dhaka FM 90.4 throughout the day over a period of two months.These will focus on five key areas — the role of DIFE, what to do in case of fire, maternity protection, safety is everybody’s responsibility and the role of Safety Committees which comprise representatives of the management and workers.A popular song ‘We want safety’ has been produced to highlight key safety messages.Meanwhile, a weekly contest linked to the radio programme will give listeners the chance to win weekly Tk 1,000 prizes as well as a grand prize of Tk 50,000 at the end of the campaign.A safety video aimed at workers as well as posters and stickers have been produced to support the campaign and will be distributed widely to RMG factories. Labour inspectorate staff members are also receiving training to help build their communication skills when working with managers and workers.Vice President of Bangladesh Employers’ Federation Golam Mainuddin, Inspector General, Department of Inspections for Factories and Establishments Md Shamsuzzaman Bhuiyan, Member Secretary of NCCWE Chowdhury Ashiqul Alam, Secretary General of IndustriAll Bangladesh Council Kutubuddin Ahmed, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment Khondker Mostan Hossain were also present.
