Life, health, and safety of industrial workers in Bangladesh: Should they be driven by economic rationale or moral imperative?

Abstract

Recent disasters caused by human negligence have gained widespread global attention. The devastating Savar building collapse in Bangladesh in April 2013 has been described as the deadliest industrial accident and worst structural failure in modern human history after 9/11, highlighting the need for significant policy changes to improve the health, safety, and human rights of workers to prevent similar events in Bangladesh and other nations. This letter to the editor highlights various lessons learned from recent tragedies and discusses potential steps that should be taken to reduce the risk of future disasters and improve the health and safety of industrial workers in the low- and middle-income countries. We provide four primary recommendations for consideration by industries and government agencies worldwide to better ensure the health and safety of industrial workers.

Letter to the Editor

Natural disasters spurred by global climate change, such as flooding and crop failures, are likely to have devastating health and economic consequences in resource-poor settings, and especially in Bangladesh.¹ However, recent disasters caused by human negligence in Bangladesh have gained widespread global attention. In November 2012, the Tazreen garment factory fire killed and injured over 300 workers.² This was followed by the April 2013 Savar building collapse in the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, described as the deadliest garment-factory accident and worst structural failure after 9/11 in modern human history, leaving nearly 1200 people dead and 2500 injured.^3,4

What can Bangladesh (and other similar nations) learn from these tragic incidents? First, they highlight socioeconomic inequalities faced by the biggest driving-force behind recent economic growth in many emerging economies. As the second-leading garment exporter following China, the Bangladeshi economy benefits immensely from the annual US$20 billion industry with the lowest labour cost globally.⁵ The sector employs ~3 million female workers, empowering women with financial independence in a largely conservative Muslim country. Ironically, the minimum wage of a garment worker in Bangladesh is US$37/month (half the US$77/month national per-capita income).⁶ For these workers, there are no standardised health-care provisions for illness or work-related stress caused by unusually long work-hours.⁷ Dr Muhammad Yunus, eminent Bangladeshi economist and Nobel laureate, recently proposed enforcing a minimum international wage and establishing a welfare trust for garment workers that would operate like a community-development bank to reduce inequality and enhance quality of life.⁸

Second, basic labour practices, and occupational health and safety measures are largely ignored across industries with no clear provision presently on prevention, management, and compensation of occupational accidents. Not ensuring adequate safety of workers has substantial implications to individuals (e.g. reduced quality of life owing to injury and disease, and adverse psychosocial effects on victims and families) and to communities (e.g. cost of health care and rehabilitation services and loss of skilled labour). Concerned that garment authorities may be violating labour rights and disregarding safety issues, the Obama administration recently rescinded special trade privileges for Bangladesh, a move described by the Bangladeshi foreign ministry as “harsh.”⁹ Globally, there is an ever-increasing need for better enforcement of occupational health and safety standards to avoid untimely injuries and deaths and to improve the lives of workers in low-resource settings.¹⁰ The recent string of accidents affecting the lives of thousands of industrial workers in Bangladesh is preventable if appropriate health and safety regulations are put into practice.

Third, a well-thought out long-term rehabilitation plan—agreed to and supported by factory owners, foreign buyers, and governments—is currently required. For Bangladeshi survivors, returning to a normal life will be challenging or impossible for those who required amputation during and after the rescue efforts. Many of these young survivors will require long-term counselling for mental trauma and onset of mental illnesses.

Finally, there is presently a general lack of public health emergency preparedness strategy in under-developed countries. As in the case of the Savar tragedy, effective occupational health and safety measures could often minimise—or avoid entirely—deaths and injuries from such accidents. Better medical management in the aftermath of disasters could also save more lives and improve victims’ quality of life. Such actions are crucial to ensure that all parties are sufficiently informed and are able to respond promptly and efficiently in the event of future accidents. This is of particular relevance to Bangladesh as, despite being ranked among the top 20 cities most vulnerable to earthquakes globally,¹¹ there is currently a general disregard for national building safety codes, leaving building structures in Dhaka (industrial and non-industrial) at high risk of further catastrophes.

New labour laws passed in Bangladeshi parliament in July 2013 is good first-step towards boosting welfare of industrial workers,¹² however, nothing was mentioned in the bill regarding prevention of future disasters, emergency response, and rehabilitation. Therefore, despite worldwide praise for the valiant efforts of volunteer rescuers and the government following the tragic event, Bangladesh (and other emerging economies largely reliant on labourers) should carefully revisit strategies to protect lives and ensure thehealth and safety of industrial workers. Failure to fulfil these responsibilities may have destructive economic and moral consequences to sustainable national growth.

Figure 1. Bangladesh: health and safety of industrial workers in House of Cards.

Source: Wikipedia