THE absence of effective mechanisms to contain workplace accidents and consequent death and injuries is deplorable. When hardly there goes a day when workplace accidents do not leave workers dead, the authorities appear nonchalant towards the issue, a reason Bangladesh is considered one of the worst countries in terms of worker safety. A Safety and Rights Society report says that at least 758 workers died in 639 accidents in 2024. The report, based on news published in 15 national and 11 local newspapers, shows that the transport sector recorded the highest number of worker fatalities totalling 379 while 129 died in workshops, gas and electricity supply establishments and 92 workers died in construction, among others. Reviewing the causes of death, the report finds that 464 workers died in road accidents, 81 died by electrocution, 30 died in fires and explosions, 50 in the construction sector and 69 in the agricultural sector, among others. The actual number is believed to be higher as there were many workplace casualties that did not make the headlines. In 2023, the Safety and Rights Society listed at least 875 deaths in 772 workplace accidents and the Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation put the figure at 1,432.
At least 967 casualties in workplace accidents were reported in 2022 and at least 1,053 workers died in workplace accidents in 2021. Such a situation is gravely concerning because while workplace accidents and consequent death and injuries have continued to increase every year, all that the authorities have come up with are mere promises and no effective action. Occupational safety has all along been a neglected area. After every major disaster, the authorities routinely promise action, but the promises are rarely kept. Besides, labour rights violation of other sorts is also rampant. It is no wonder that the Global Rights Index, conducted and published by the International Trade Union Confederation, has ranked Bangladesh among the 10 worst countries for workers for eight consecutive years since 2017. The ITUC Global Rights Index in the past few years specified a severe lack of workplace safety measures, violent repression of worker movements, mass dismissals and arrests of union leaders and labour rights activists and restricted rights to unionisation as worrying signs of labour rights violations in Bangladesh. What is also concerning is the lack of oversight in the informal sector, where laws are largely ignored and accidents abound.
The government should, therefore, attend to the issues that have contributed to the alarming state of workplace safety. The government needs to ensure labour rights and improve legal and policy frameworks, systems and services related to labour rights. The government also needs to investigate all workplace accidents, bring negligent employers and authorities to justice and compensate the victims and their families.