Execution of safety rules in Ship Breaking industry stressed

Speakers Tuesday stressed the need for necessary measures and a proper implementation of Ship Breaking and Ship Recycling Rules-2011 to stop casualties in the industry, reports BSS.
The ship breaking industry was abandoned for a long time since 2010 due to deaths of 43 workers and environment pollution following a directive of the High Court (HC) and it started functioning again from 2012 immediately after formulation of some rules, the speakers said at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters' Unity (DRU) Tuesday.
Coalition of Local NGOs, Bangladesh (CLNB) organised the press conference with its Chairman Harunur Rashid in the chair.
Among others, labour leader Shahjahan Kabir Zahir, director of Human Development Centre of Proshika and senate member of Dhaka University Nargis Jahan Banu, president of Bangladesh Primary Teachers' Association Shamsul Alam, executive general secretary of CLNB Shamim Reza, labour leaders Sahida Sarker, Kamrunnahar and Shaheen Zaman took part in the conference.
For lack of execution of the rules, they said: "A total of 45 workers had been killed and hundreds of others were injured after the industry had resumed functioning in 2012."
Although there is a rule to appoint a safety officer panel at shipyards to look after safety of the workers, there is no such panel, they said adding that no shipyard is yet to get the approval of Ship Recycling Facilities Plan (SRFP) from the Industries Ministry, which is necessary to import ships.
In accordance with the rule 3.9, it is necessary for the workers to take training from a government designated institute to work at a shipyard, but most of the workers in the industry did not take the training from such institutes as only 4,908 out of 0.2 million workers were imparted training from such institutes, they said.