US Ambassador Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat on Saturday said the United States is committed to continue efforts to protect Bangladesh’s factory workers.She came up with this remark while addressing an event titled ‘Rubble to Life,’ organized by BRAC at Spectra Convention Hall in the city, commemorating the Rana Plaza disaster that claimed lives of at least 1,134 people three years ago.The US Ambassador also said workers should be given a strong and powerful voice so that they can say ‘no’ to work in a factory having a cracked wall as it is a matter of workplace safety.Realising the fact, Bernicat said, they have provided support for programmes to improve workers’ rights, and they engage with the government, the private sector, the International Labor Organization (ILO), and other missions on regular basis to strengthen that voice.The US Ambassador acknowledged the work that is being done to better prepare for future accidents mentioning that “unfortunately, workplace accidents can only be reduced, but not eliminated, and how we support those who are injured is also important.”Three years ago the Rana Plaza building collapsed, crushing workers underneath and drawing the world’s attention to the safety concerns in Bangladesh. In just one day, Bangladesh lost more than 1,100 lives with hundreds of others being injured and scarred for life.In the United States, Bernicat said, they have a system that provides compensation for workers who are injured as result of their job.”Workers’ compensation programmes provide workers suffering from an occupational injury or disease several benefits: the payment of lost wages, including estimates for future earnings; medical treatment; and rehabilitation services,” she said adding that each country will need to find its own path to addressing these issues.The US Ambassador laid emphasis on taking preparation to help those who might suffer work injuries in the future and continue to work so that such a preventable tragedy never occurs again. “I want to assure you that you continue to have our strong commitment to continue these efforts,” Bernicat said.Recalling the human cost of that day, Bernicat said she had a chance to meet some of the survivors of the tragedy and heard from them about the challenges they still face on a day-to-day basis. “We can never make those who survived such a tragedy whole again. But we can do our best to avoid such a tragedy happen again.”The US diplomat said the United States has done everything it can to ensure Bangladesh workers are protected by strong occupational safety and health standards. “We’ve provided $1.5 million to the International Labor Organization to improve fire and building safety in Bangladesh,” she added.The US envoy also mentioned that the US provided $1 million to the Solidarity Centre to train workers on fire and building safety so that they understand fire safety and general building hazards and how to report and propose remediation to the government or factory managers.Director of Disaster Management and Climate Change (DMCC), Brac Dr Gawher Nayeem Wahra made a presentation while Chairman of Enam Medical College and Hospital Dr Enamur Rahmen, MP, Executive Commissioner of Rana Plaza Claims Administration Mojtaba Kazazi and ILO RMG Programme Manager in Dhaka Tuomo Poutiainen also spoke on the occasion.
