A 22 per cent increase in workplace deaths in the first half of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023 highlights the continuing failure of authorities to ensure workplace safety and workers’ rights. A report by the Safety and Rights Society, published on 1 July, said at least 475 workers died and many were injured in 420 workplace accidents between January and June. The number of workplace deaths was 389 in the same period in 2023. The transport sector remains the riskiest, with at least 250 deaths. At least 74 people died in the service sector, including workshops and gas and electricity supply plants; 66 in the agricultural sector; 52 in the construction sector; and 33 in factories and other manufacturing plants. The chaotic traffic regime has reportedly taken the heaviest toll, with 310 workers killed in road accidents. At least 52 people died from electrocution, 51 from lightning strikes, 23 from falls from heights, and 15 were hit or crushed by heavy objects. In addition, eight people were exposed to chemicals or toxic gases in septic tanks or water tanks, six people drowned, three died in fires or explosions, one person died from a collapsing beam, and six from other causes.

This is of grave concern because while workplace accidents and resulting deaths and injuries have been steadily increasing year on year, all the authorities have come up with are promises and no concrete actions. The number of workplace deaths has increased by 48 percent in 2023 when, according to a report by the Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation, at least 329 workers died in the formal sector while 1,103 workers died in the informal sector due to workplace accidents. Workplace safety has, in fact, been a neglected area all along. After every major workplace disaster, the authorities routinely promise to take action, but these promises are rarely kept. It is no wonder that the Global Rights Index, 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 2024 identifies the serious lack of workplace safety measures, the brutal repression of the labor movement, the mass dismissals and arrests of union leaders and labor rights activists, and the limited rights to unionize as disturbing violations in Bangladesh. Also troubling is the lack of oversight in the informal sector, where labor laws are largely ignored and workplace accidents are common.

The government must therefore address the issues that have contributed to the alarming state of safety at work. The government must ensure workers’ rights, improve the legal and policy framework, systems and services related to workers’ rights, and facilitate trade union rights. The government must investigate all workplace accidents, compensate victims and families, and prosecute negligent employers and authorities.