Workplace casualty at the ship-breaking yards
continues unabated as the employers allegedly engage the workers in the
hazardous job without adequate occupational safety measures
Workers getting crushed under falling steel beams and
heavy plates for lack of safety measures. Apart from this, cylinder, boiler and generator blast and
electrical shocks are responsible for casualty in the yards.
Yesterday, a worker died in an accident at a
ship-breaking yard at Kumira Ghat, Sitakunda upazila.
Md Saifullah, sub-inspector of Sitakunda police
station, told the Dhaka Tribune that Md Raju, 30, a resident of Baro Awlia,
Sitakunda upazila, had received critical injuries in the leg and the waist when
a heavy iron plate fell on him.
“He was brought to Chittagong Medical College
Hospital around 5am where he died,” Assistant Sub-Inspector Pankaj Barua of the
CMCH police outpost, adding that the body was sent to morgue for an autopsy.
A murder case was filed with Sitakunda police station
in this connection.
According to Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), a
non-government organisation working for the rights of the ship-breaking
workers, at least 13 workers have died and six others have received critical
injuries so far this year in the ship-breaking yards of Chittagong.
Tapan Dutta, convener of Ship-breaking Workers’ Trade
Union Forum, alleged that the workplace casualty occurred, as most of the
ship-breaking yards hardly follow occupational safety standards.
“The yard owners do not comply with the minimum wage
structure set by the government. The workers at the yards are not permitted to
exercise trade union activities. It has turned out to be a farce that the
government declared the sector as an industry since the workplace casualties
continue unabated in the ship-breaking yards,” said Mohammad Mamun, general
secretary of Bangladesh Trade Union Sangha, Chittagong.
A ship-breaking worker of Master & Brothers at
Sitakunda upazila also succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at
the CMCH on August 1. The hapless worker
identified as Salam, 50, sustained critical injuries when an iron plate fell on
him.
Besides, a worker identified as Biplob Haldar, 27,
died after inhaling toxic gas while cleaning oil from a scrap ship on April 17.
A ship-breaking worker died after a heavy plate fell
on the head at Asadi Steel Enterprise at MadamBibir Hat under Situakunda upzila
on January 19.
On April 3, 2014, four workers were killed and three
others were injured from inhaling carbon dioxide when a gas cylinder exploded
at a ship-breaking yard in Sitakunda.
Tapan Dutta, convener of Ship-breaking Workers’ Trade
Union Forum, alleged that the workplace casualty occurred, as most of the
ship-breaking yards hardly follow occupational safety standards.
Source: Dhaka Tribune.
30 August 2016
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