Better workplace safety measures have cut the number of deaths in garment factories compared to any other sectors, Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation found.Some 28 workers were killed in the garment sector this year while the number was 52 in the previous year, according to a report of the foundationCautiousness on safety issues rose in the garment sector only so it brings a result in this sector. But it is still neglected by the other sectors,” said AR Chowdhury Repon, the foundation’s executive director, while revealing the findings yesterday.At least 898 workers were killed and 341 injured across the country in 2018 while last year it was 1,242 and 371 respectively, according to the report based on information gathered by its staff and 15 newspapers’ reports.The casualties occurred on way to workplaces and from fires, falls from roofs, lightning and boiler and cylinder explosions. Of this year’s deaths, 157 were in the formal sector while the rest in the informal. The highest 281 were in the transport sector while two in tannery.In the last 10 years, at least 11,968 workers were killed and 9,424 injured in workplace accidents. Of the deaths, a maximum of 1,864 were in the garments sector. The government should focus on other workplaces as well, said Repon at a press briefing at Dhaka Reporters Unity with a suggestion of bringing all injured workers under a government rehabilitation programme.The foundation suggested providing workers safety gear,conducting regular inspections of boilers, forming specialised doctors’ chambers in hospitals and providing financial assistance to victims.LutfunnaharLutfa, secretary to Bangladesh Free Trade Union Congress; China Rahman, general secretary of the Federation of Garments Workers; ShazzadKabirBhuiyan, programme officer of the foundation, and Md AbulKalam, a shipbreaking worker who fell victim to a workplace accident, were present.
