Rise in occupational hazard deaths

DESPITE outcries, the issue of workplace safety, except garment sector, has not been taken seriously in the country and thus number of such accidents is surging alarmingly. The New Nation reported on Saturday that a total of 1,240 workers were killed and many more injured in various accidents and incidents in their workplaces in the country’s different sectors in 2016. The number of deaths in workplaces rose by 289 in 2016 as 951 people were killed in workplaces in 2015. Accidents in factories for bursting boilers and collapse of the roof have become devastating while fall of constructing materials and fall of workers also surged. With the phase of urbanization, life of working people and ordinary city dwellers are becoming hazardous due to imprudence. Alarmingly, there is nobody to monitor the malpractices and enforce laws to address the growing concern.

In 2016, around 150 workers were killed in the construction sector and 88 in the apparel sector. On Thursday, three construction workers were killed as the under-construction roof of a food processing factory collapsed on them in Ashulia due to use of low-quality construction materials and lack of safety measures.

What appears to us is that the construction workers have to work at the sites risking their lives due to lack of work safety measures like enclosures, scaffolding and fencing because those are allegedly ignored by the authorities concerned. The movement of pedestrians is risky beneath the under-construction flyovers, like Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover, as incidents of the fall of construction materials like rods and brick chips have become routine for lack of safety measures. Besides, workers are not provided with and asked to wear personal safety gears like helmet, special boots, and retro-reflective vest, which are mandatory as per standard safety guidelines. It is the responsibility of the City Corporations to ensure the safety of passers-by during any development work being implemented in the city, but nobody takes the issue into account.

In such cases where workers are killed, usually, no case is lodged and if any case filed, the trial of the owners, who are usually influential persons, remains suspended for years. After the Rana Plaza disaster, workplace safety in many garment factories improved considerably, but the problem in other factories, particularly in construction sector, remains largely unaddressed.

The government in September said they will begin inspecting non-garment industrial units and sites to ensure compliance and strengthen workplace safety for workers. Inspection of the non-RMG factories for upgrading fire safety, electrical and structural safety should start now. Besides, to ensure safety in construction sites, the government should also make proper monitoring and take supervisory step right now. On the top of all, there should be legal provision to provide adequate compensation to such occupational hazard victims – death or otherwise – to cover up losses.