Staff Reporter :
Tannery Workers Union, with the support of the Solidarity Center-Bangladesh office, set up a day-long health camp for tannery workers in Savar on Friday.
Over 200 tannery workers at Tannery Industrial Estate of Hemayetpur received free medicine upon consulting the doctors at the camp.
Medicine specialists and dermatologists provided advice to the workers. The workers also received regular health checkups-Diabetes and blood pressure free of cost.
Savar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md. Majharul Islam inaugurated the camp as the Chief Guest. Md. Shakawatth Ullah, General Secretary of Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) and Managing Director of Salma Tannery Ltd., and BSCIC Tannery Industrial Estate Engineer Md. Mahfuzur Rahman were present as the special guests.
Advocate Salim Ahsan Khan, legal counselor of Solidarity Center and Abdul Maleque, general secretary of Tannery Workers Union, were also present at the event.
Addressing the event, the owners and the union leaders called upon the government to establish a permanent health care Centre or a hospital inside the Tannery Estate for the workers.
The Savar UNO Md. Majharul Islam said awareness among the workers and the owners regarding occupational health and safety should be raised, and such health camp should be held regularly for the tannery factory owners and the workers.
“If we invest in establishing a hospital and developing worker health care, it will return to us as profit,” he said.
BSCIC Tannery Industrial Estate Executive Engineer Md. Mahfuzur Rahman said, “A 20-bed hospital for tannery workers is going to be established soon.”
The event was organized to raise awareness among the tannery workers about Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and the importance of maintaining environmental protection.
