Experts blame lack of safety
measures for accidents
Experts have blamed the lack of safety
measures for the frequent casualties at the ship breaking yards in Chittagong's
Sitakunda.
At least six workers were killed in the first
three months of this year. Last year, the number was 16.
In the latest incident, Afil Rema, a
25-year-old man from Netrakona, was killed at Khaza Ship Breaking Yard
yesterday morning, said Inspector Palash Kumar Das of the Department of
Inspection for Factories and Establishments, Chittagong.
Afil was cutting a ballast tank with a blow
torch when suddenly there was an explosion, leaving him critically injured,
said Palash, adding that the worker was rushed to Chittagong Medical College
Hospital where doctors declared him dead around 10:30am.
On February 22, another worker, Harun-ur-Rashid,
a 45-year-old man from Naogaon, died of his injuries at Dhaka Medical College
Hospital.
He had sustained serious wounds in a similar
incident at Jamuna Ship Breaking Yard on February 18. Harun too was cutting a
tank with a blow torch. Two other workers were also injured.
Talking to The Daily Star, Palash said the
accidents happened due to a lack of precautionary safety measures at the ship
breaking yards.
“According to the rules concerned, these
types of tanks or pipes should be cut with hacksaws, not with blow torch,” he
said.
Asked, he said the authorities of many ship
breaking yards discourage workers from using hacksaw as cutting metals with
that consumes time, putting lives at risk.
Contacted, Mejbah Uddin, manager of Jamuna
Ship Breaking Yard, claimed that the three workers injured on February 18 were
not cutting any tank.
“Actually they were standing on a tank and
cutting a pipe. There was an explosion
probably because flames came in contact with fire,” he said.
Asked about the use of blow torch instead of
hacksaws, he said, “It's unfortunate that the accident happened. There was no
oil inside the pipe. We had washed it with water.”
The Daily Star could not contact anyone from
the authorities of Khaza Ship Breaking Yard.
According to NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a
Brussels-based international organisation working for ensuring safety in the
sector, said at least 181 workers were killed in accidents in different ship
breaking yards in Sitakunda between 2005 and 2017.
There are around 100 such yards in the
upazila.
Mohammad Ali Shahin, Bangladesh coordinator
of the platform, held the lack of safety measures responsible for the frequent
accidents.
Also,
there is no effective monitoring from the government side on the issue, he
said, adding, “The government officials concerned visit the yards only when
there is an accident and skip their responsibilities by filing cases with
labour courts or issuing show cause notices to the [yard] owners.”
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of
Bangladesh Environment Lawyers' Association (Bela), said ship breaking
activities should be done in dry docks to avoid such accidents.
“Lack of safety measures is responsible for
the accidents and all the government offices responsible for the monitoring
maintain a liaison with the yard owners. They do not do their job properly,”
she said, adding that the number of accidents would come down significantly if
the matter was monitored properly.
Abdul Hai Khan, deputy inspector general of
the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, refuted the
allegations.
“We have a manpower crisis. It is not
possible for only two inspectors appointed for the zone to visit around 100
yards every day,” he said.
“Despite limitations, we are trying our best
to deliver the best,” he added.
Source:
the
daily star. 29 March 2018
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