The government has decided to adopt an action plan for ensuring health and occupational safety in five industrial sectors including readymade garments (RMG) and leather, sources said. The decision was taken Tuesday at the first meeting of a committee that was formed by ‘National Industrial Health and Safety Council’ in March. “Initially, we have prioritised five sectors garment and textiles, leather, shrimp, ship building and breaking and chemical considering the size of sectors,” Syed Ahmed, head of the committee and also Inspector General of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), told the FE after the meeting. Gradually, other sectors would be included in the plan, he mentioned. The 13-member committee was formed to set common standards to ensure occupational health and safety for all the industrial sectors of the country. The committee again formed two working groups comprising representatives from workers, owners, the government and experts to devise strategy for implementing the National Occupational Health and Safety Policy 2013, meeting sources said. Later, a set of common standards that would be applicable to both formal and informal sectors would be framed mainly to ensure occupational and health safety, they explained. The groups will exchange views with all the stakeholders, they added. Earlier, the ministry of labour framed the policy aiming to speed up pace of industrialisation, ensure workers’ safety and compliance with other standards, apart from retaining competitiveness, especially in the wake of frequent disasters in the country’s top foreign exchange-earning garment sector, officials said.
Source: https://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2015/05/27/94272
