389 workers died in workplace accidents in 6 months
Staff Reporter :
Workers’ death due to workplace accidents has been increased. This time the highest number of workers died in the transport sector. Next is the construction sector. This scenario has emerged in a report of the non-governmental organization Safety and Rights Society (SRS), released on Sunday.
In the first six months of this year, there were 287 workplace accidents in the country. A total of 389 workers died due to those accidents. The death toll is higher than the same period last year. A total of 333 workers were died in accidents at 241 workplaces across the country during the same period in 2022.
SRS prepared this report based on news published in 15 national and 11 local newspapers.
Executive Director of SRS Sekender Ali said that accidents have taken place more in the transport, construction, manufacturing and service sectors. Negligence of the employers regarding the safety of the workers at the workplaces and lack of proper inspection by the concerned government departments are most important reasons for the increase in accidents at the workplaces.
The monitoring of the concerned authorities should be increased to reduce workplace accidents. If not, accidents will continue, said Sekender Ali.
According to the survey report, the highest number of workers was killed in the transport sector. A total of 128 people were killed in this sector. Construction sector is next with 86 deaths. Next in the list is the service sector (workshops, gas, electricity supply companies etc). A total of 85 people were killed in the workplaces of this sector. This number is 50 in factories and other productive institutions. And 62 workers were killed in the agricultural sector.
After reviewing the cause of deaths, it was found that 173 people were killed by road accidents, 50 people were killed by explosions, 40 people were killed by
lightning, 32 people were killed by falling from a loft or above. According to the report, 30 people were electrocuted, 22 people were hit by a hard or heavy object or were crushed under it. 12 people died due to exposure to toxic gases from chemicals, septic tanks or water tanks, eight died due to fire.
According to the survey, the most common cause of accidents in the transport sector is the uncontrolled transport system. Obstruction of law enforcement in this sector, reckless traffic and incompetent drivers are the main causes of accidents.
According to the SRS, the reasons for the increase in the number of deaths in various explosions in recent times are inefficiency and negligence in chemical storage, lack of fire extinguishing system, lack of emergency exits in factory buildings, locking of exits, lack of permission from concerned department for construction of factories, and others.
