OSHE in Bangladesh

By: Shakil Akhter Chowdhury
Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS)

Occupational Safety, Health and Environment is one of the major issues for Bangladesh trade union movement. Securing safety and health at work is also a basic human right. It has been widely recognized that the existence of better occupational health and safety system for the workers is one of the key instruments for higher levels of productivity and harmonic industrial development.

With the rapid increase of industrialization in Bangladesh and changes in production techniques, lot of problems such as dust, gas, noise, chemical hazards, toxic fumes, radiation, vibration, poor welfare facilities, etc., are encountered with respect to the health and safety of workers in various working sectors of the economy.

Although Bangladesh has not yet ratified the very important ILO Conventions No. 155 and 161, it has enacted a number of laws for protection of the workers such as laws on working environment, working conditions, working hours, safety and health, compensation for accidents, disability, death, maternity benefits, etc.

Besides the limited scope of coverage of the OSH legislation, there are also other challenges such as the poor enforcement of the Act due to under staffing and other constraints.

In the recent years, some positive initiatives have been underway in promoting major OSH issues by government and non-governmental agencies such as Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS). Promoting OSH Standards in the country has achieved some results and attracted attention on the issues.

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