Construction brings highest worker deaths this year: survey
The construction sector brought about the highest number of worker deaths so far this year, a recent survey found.
Of the total of 260 deaths from workplace accidents in the first ten months of the year, 105 were in the construction sector, according to the survey conducted by Safety and Rights Society, a local non-government organisation that works for improving workplace safety in Bangladesh. Dhaka saw the highest number of deaths: 72.
The services sector which includes hotels, workshops and power supply organisations had 70 deaths, while 60 workers died in factories and other manufacturing organisations.
After the Tazreen fire and Rana Plaza collapse, the factory owners, buyers and the government have taken various initiatives to ensure safety in the garment sector but they failed to act in other sectors, Sekender Ali Mina, executive director of Safety and Rights Society, said.
“Since the ones responsible for those workplace deaths are never considered serious criminals and because the compensation amount is very low, employers do not give sufficient attention to ensure adequate safety measures there,” he added.
Similar to previous years, the highest number of deaths in the last ten months involved electrocution, followed by falling from heights, 40, and crushed to death by machinery or falling hard objects, 28.
The survey found that most of electrocutions occurred when iron rods carried by construction workers came into contact with live electric lines, it said. The study also noted that workers fall victim to electrocution often, as they are not provided protective equipment like helmet, gloves and shoes at work, it said.
The main reason why workers fell from high places was due to poorly-made scaffolds and lack of ropes and harnesses, Mina said.
Roof/wall/building collapse brought about 16 deaths so far this year. The remaining workers died from various causes, including boiler explosions, chemical and gas explosions, suffocation, road accident as well as earth collapses.
The results of the study, which are based on reports of workplace accidents in 26 daily newspapers, was unveiled yesterday at a press conference organised by Safety and Rights Society and Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), a leading legal service provider organisation.
Safety and Rights Society and BLAST work together to provide compensation to the families of dead workers from workplace accidents.
Over the last five years, a total of 3,036 workers died from occupational hazards, the study also found.
Jyotirmoy Barua, BLAST's Supreme Court lawyer, said the government is still trying to suppress the real number of Tazreen fire victims. Two years after the tragic incident, a good number of workers are still missing.
The rights groups had provided family details of 26 missing workers to the government but the families received threats from government agencies for their claims, according to Barua.
The missing family members lost their confidence on the rights group and do not want to speak to them again. “Even after losing their dearest in the fire incident, they have to face threats and harassments from the government agencies.”
The workers who die in workplaces are deprived of sufficient compensation due to a lack of standards, he said.
The families of Tazreen victims are yet to receive proper compensation; the financial assistance provided by the government, banks, buyers and garment owners association are being passed off as compensation, he added.
“Everywhere workers are deprived of their legal rights,” said Wajedul Islam Khan, general secretary of the Bangladesh Trade Union Kendra.
Though obligations are laid out in the labour law, very few employers provide training to workers.
“If a worker is trained, he can play a big role to ensure his own safety as well as his co-worker's safety, and above all, he can take part for the development of the organisation.”
About compensation, he said it is unfortunate that according to the labour act the family of any deceased worker will be paid Tk 1 lakh as compensation. The amount was estimated some 50 years ago and it should not be the standard still.
He went on to call for a standard based on the loss of earning years.
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