Workplace accidents claim 1,432 lives in 2023
Staff Reporter :
At least 1,432 workers have lost their lives in various workplace accidents due to unsafe conditions, with an additional 502 reported injured during the outgoing year.
The highest number of deaths, 637, occurred in the transportation sector, according to the report revealed by Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment (OSHE) Foundation on Friday.
Comparing these statistics with the previous year, where there were 967 fatalities and 228 injuries, the data shows a significant increase of 465 fatalities and 274 injuries.
During a press conference of the Foundation at the Dhaka Reporters Unity, the stakeholders said that these shocking figures underscored the pressing need for comprehensive safety reforms in workplaces to protect the lives and well-being of the country’s workforce.
Foundation’s Chairman, Saqi Rezwana, and Co-Management Officer Nusrat Jahan, among others, were present on the occasion.
The report highlights significant causes of workplace fatalities, including road accidents, electrocution, fires, collapses of buildings or structures, lightning strikes, gas cylinder explosions, violence, physical abuse of domestic workers, and incidents involving walls, buildings, roofs, and land subsidence.
In 2023, there were 329 fatalities and 277 injuries in the formal sector of the workforce. In the informal sector, the number of fatalities was 1,103, and there were 225 injured workers.
During the press conference, it was revealed that in 2023, the highest number of fatalities in the transportation sector was 637 workers, with 127 injured. In the construction sector, 220 workers lost their lives, and 76 were injured.
In the manufacturing sector, there were 149 fatalities and 72 injuries. Agricultural workers accounted for 146 deaths and 10 injuries (71 of them due to lightning strikes). In the garment industry, 64 workers died, and 89 were injured, while in the manufacturing sector, 94 workers died, and 15 were injured.
The report states that in the fisheries sector, 53 workers lost their lives and 22 were injured. In the service sector, there were 26 fatalities and 22 injuries.
In the ceramics sector, 17 workers died, and 9 were injured while in the leather industry, 4 fatalities and 17 injuries were reported.
Additionally, in the brickfield industry, 11 workers died, and six were injured. Shipbreaking activities led to seven fatalities and 29 injuries. Tea plantation workers saw one death and six injuries. At the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, three workers died, and two were injured.
The Foundation recommended establishment of Safety Committees, not only in the garment sector but also in other industries, involving representatives from both workers and employers and robust monitoring mechanisms in adherence to health and safety regulations.
The Foundation also recommended incorporating the provision for providing a one-time financial assistance of 10 lakh Taka to the family of the deceased worker, and for injured workers, a financial assistance of 500,000 Taka, as proposed in the Labor Act, 2006.
Furthermore, it also recommended incorporating the issue of rehabilitation for injured workers into labor laws, implementing the Employment Injury Scheme (EIS) in all sectors of the industrial field, establishing accurate databases on workplace accidents under government supervision, including workers who have suffered injuries or fatalities in a general pension scheme in the workplace accident scenario, and ensuring their monthly allowances are disbursed by the government.
In shipbreaking yards, OSHE recommended setting hospitals by the employers, ensuring the use of appropriate personal protective equipment for workers in workplaces, providing orientation on the National Occupational Health and Safety Policy, 2013.
