Lack of adequate safety equipments and working in hazardous condition caused death of 179 construction workers in the country and left 42 others seriously injured at their workplaces in 2017, a study has revealed.
Annual Workplace Safety Report 2017, prepared by Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE), revealed that two most common reasons behind these deaths were electrocution and falling from high buildings.
Electrocution causes 33.03 per cent or 73 deaths, falling from high buildings 28.95 per cent or 64 deaths, strike of construction materials 13.57 per cent or 30 deaths, and suffocation of gas/smoke 9.04 per cent or 20 deaths in 2017, according to OSHE report.
Among the 179 deaths, 175 happened in informal sectors. So, most of the victim families will never get any compensation from the employers, as the existing labour act is applicable for the formal sectors only, the report mentioned.
OSHE claimed that the trend of unsafe workplace was similar in 2017 as it was in the immediate past year. In 2016, a total of 147 construction workers lost lives in construction sector.
According to the report, there were a total of 1,509 deaths in the construction industry in the decade ranging from 2008 to 2017.
Repon Chowdhury, executive director of OSHE, said, "High casualty rate and low safety situation at the construction sites have been present in the country for a long time with little government action to reverse the situation."
He said strong legal enforcement on workplace safety issues by the responsible authorities is a long-time challenge here.
He emphasised formation of a special monitoring team, engaging personnel from the Department of Inspection of Factories and Establishment (DIFE) and the city development authorities, for construction sector.
Professor Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed of Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), said strict enforcement of legal regulations is needed to lessen risks at workplaces.
Safety compliances, like - helmets, safety boots, safety belt, safety jacket, steel structure scaffold, guards, and safety sings etc, at construction sites need to be ensured for all workers.
The principal contractors or companies, at the same time should conduct regular trainings on safety measures and modern construction practices for both workers and officials, said the building safety researcher.
Besides, immediate revision of the accident compensation clauses under Bangladesh Labour Act (2006 amended) is needed, he added.
Former director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence Brig Gen (Retd) Abu Nayeem Md Shahidullah said the government will have to provide proper guidance to construction companies to set up core safety principles, safety committee and programmes at their sites.
DIFE, employers and trade union bodies should launch special safety awareness campaign together for workers, developer company officials and site engineers, he opined.
Secretary of Bangladesh Building and Wood Workers Federation (BBWWF) Arifur Rahman said trade unions are very much unorganised in the country.
He also said more capacity building of the trade unions is needed for effective and united work on health and safety rights issues, and demanded expansion of small construction sites training programme.
The workers in the sector should be mainstreamed based on their occupation, like - general construction helper, skilled mason, and painter etc, through a registration process.
"The government will have to introduce mandatory work insurance for every worker of the sector," he added.
While contacted, Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) spokesman Rashid Babu told the FE that the organisation has formed a training institute, from where 800 people got training last year.
He further said more than 5,000 people will get training from the institute this year. Every member company of REHAB has been instructed to arrange training and ensure necessary security equipments for the workers.
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