With fund from Norway, the government is going to
set up a training institute for shipbreaking workers in a bid to make them
aware of the occupational health hazards and reduce causalities in the yards,
said Industries Minister Dilip Barua yesterday.
He also said the government has prepared a draft
policy for the shipbreaking industry and posted it on the website a month ago
to get comments on it from mass people.
He was speaking as the chief guest at a workshop
styled “Occupational safety and health at shipbreaking
industry of Bangladesh :
Current status and way forward” organised by Bangladesh Occupational
Safety Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE) and Asia Monitor Resource
Centre at Senate Bhaban in Dhaka
University
The task of breaking ships is very risky and mostly
workers from monga (seasonal and localised famine)-hit northern districts take
up the work.
The minister, however, did not mention
when and where the training institute will be built.
There are around 80 shipbreaking yards and around
50,000 workers work there, speakers said.
A total of 43 workers died and 92 others
were injured in several accidents from 2008 to 2010 in the shipyards, they
said.
On an average, seven to 8 accidents took place in
the shipyards almost everyday, but most of them remain unnoticed, they added.
Speakers also expressed their concern as such ships
bear toxic substance, which may cause health hazard to the workers and
environmental pollution in the long run.
They urged the government to be strict to bar
import of such ships.
SM Morshed of OSHE chaired the workshop.
Source: The Daily Star. 23 November 2011
