Poor implementation of law and excessive attention to the garment sector are the major challenges for ensuring workplace safety in the country, speakers said Thursday at a dialogue. They 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 programmes are other challenges. The views came 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 in the city. State minister for labour Mujibul Haque was present at the dialogue, which was organised on the eve of world day for safety and health at work. Some 294 workers died while 101 were severely injured in workplace accidents in the first quarter of 2017, said AR Chowdhury Repon, executive director of OSHE Foundation in his keynote paper. Out of them, 68 dead and 45 injured were from the formal sector and 226 dead and 56 injured were from the informal, he said. 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, he showed. Between 2012 and 2016, a total of 4,616 workers died, while 4,373 were injured due to workplace accidents in the country, according to the presentation. His 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. The state minister 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. “There is no alternative to awareness building and social dialogue can help in this regard,” Mr Haque said. Explaining the progresses made in the country 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. Chairman of Debate for Democracy Hassan Ahmed Chowdhury said workers of informal sectors hardly get any compensation and it is not possible to get their lawful rights and realise any compensation in the absence of appointment letters from their employers. Moreover, employers don’t provide any safety equipment to prevent workplace accidents. About 5,000 expatriates die annually while majority of them due to workplace accidents, he said suggesting increased diplomatic efforts with labour-receiving countries. He also recommended clear directive in the labour law about compensation of missing workers and launching insurance scheme for the workers of the informal sectors. OSHE chairperson Rezwana Saki, former fire brigade director general Abu Nayeem Md Shahidullah, and BUET professors Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed and Dr Rowshan Mamtaz also spoke at the dialogue.
