State Minister for Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque said unawareness of factory owners and workers, unimplemented laws and regulations and limited resources of inspection authority are key barriers to factory inspection process. He came up with the observations at a workshop on ‘Draft National Labour Inspection Strategy’ organised by Labour and Employment Ministry in collaboration with International Labour Organisation (ILO) at a city hotel on Thursday. Mentioning that the owners and workers of different industries are not aware enough about workplace safety issues, he said, “No trade unions or labour leaders came to me with demand for ensuring workplace safety at their factory premises in last two years.” “We formulate strategies and laws, but it will not bring them into effect without awareness and cooperation of other stakeholders,” he added. The junior minister also instructed the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) to form committees at district level to make the factory owners and its workers aware about workplace safety issues before enforcement of labour inspection strategy. Speaking at the programme, DIFE Inspector General (IG) Syed Ahmed said apart from RMG sector, other high-risk industries should also get attention in labour inspection strategy. He said proper inspection policy will help Bangladesh achieve global labour standards. The labour and employment ministry has taken a move to frame the national inspection policy after the country’s worst-ever industrial catastrophe like Tazreen Fashions fire and Rana Plaza collapse that killed at least 1,249 garment workers. The ministry formed a committee headed by the DIFE IG to scrutinise the draft that has been prepared in association with ILO. It will be finalised by December 2016.
