As we step into 2019, here’s a piece of positive development from Bangladesh’s readymade garment industry. As per a Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation report, workplace deaths in the country’s apparel industry has been registered at 28 in 2018, from what was 52 the year before!
“Cautiousness 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.” – AR Chowdhury Repon, Executive Director, Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation
Chowdhury further stated that the Government should focus on workplaces in other sectors as well while suggesting bringing in all injured workers under a Government rehabilitation programme besides calling for providing safety gears to the workers.
Conducting regular inspections of boilers, forming specialised doctors’ chambers in hospitals and providing financial assistance to victims were some amongst the recommendations made by the foundation to bring down the causalities further.
As per the report, at least 898 workers were killed and 341 injured across the country in 2018 while in 2017, it was 1,242 and 371 respectively, which further maintained that of the total number of deaths in 2018, 157 were in the formal sectors while the rest in the informal.
The highest 281 were in the transport sector while two in tannery.