Industrial safety in the non-RMG sector has been deteriorating rapidly for a lack of measures undertaken with regard to structural, fire and electrical issues, according to a recent study by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
The civil society think-tank blamed the absence of proper monitoring and enforcement of different compliance standards by different public agencies for the safety risks.
The findings were revealed by CPD Research Director Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem at the launch event of the study titled “Industrial safety of non-RMG enterprises and workers monitoring transparency, accountability and efficiency of public actions” under the civil society monitoring initiative on Thursday (13 January).
During the presentation, Dr Moazzem said factory owners and management have limited interest to invest in safety measures while the non-RMG workers are not fully aware of the safety concerns.
At present there are meagre punitive measures under different laws, rules and acts for violating the safety code, the study found.
The CPD research team found that after the fire accident at Hashem Food and Beverage factory in Narayanganj on 8 July last year, at least 82 different types of accidents were reported in the national dailies.
However, database management is likely to be a major challenge particularly to deliver overall and factory-specific challenges and recommendations.
Dhaka and Narayangonj which are the most concentrated industrial clusters have found with least progress in inspection despite having the required logistics and human resources, said Dr Moazzem.
CPD lauded the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) led initiative to identify the safety concerns and provide necessary directives to concerned agencies for undertaking measures following the Narayanganj incident.
However, it urged BIDA to provide a strong leadership role in implementing the measures in a time-bound manner.
The civil society organisation also recommended inviting International Labour Organization (ILO) in the implementation process for their long experience of working on industrial safety related issues.
