At least 12,864 workers were killed in workplace accidents in the last 10 years, including 1,242 workers in 2017, according to a report revealed on casualties at workplaces by the Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE). 11,767 workers got injured in those years while 371 in 2017. The highest number of workers, 2453, was killed in 2010 while the lowest 233 workers killed in 2012.
1793 workers were killed in 2008, 1639 workers in 2009, 2453 workers in 2010, 1121 workers in 2011, 233 workers in 2012, 1727 workers in 2013, 465 workers in 2014, 951 workers in 2015, 1240 workers in 2016 and 1242 workers in 2017, the report said. Of the workers killed, the death toll of the garment workers was the most as 1971 garment workers were killed in the last 10 years, of whom over thousand workers were killed in the Rana Plaza collapse in Savar in 2013. In those years, among the workers killed, 1437 were construction workers, 1133 day labourers, 891 agricultural labours, and 179 ship breaking workers.
In the last 10 years, at least 11767 workers were injured in workplace accidents. Of them, the highest number was 2684 in 2008 while the lowest was 172 in 2012.
According to the report, in most of the cases, the deaths of the workers took place due to non-application of safety measures as determined by the Labour Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981.
The report also pointed out insufficient inspection of the factories, disregarding the provision of forming safety committee in most of the cases, lack of knowledge of workers on professional health and safety, the limitation of boiler inspection department, and inhumane behaviour towards housemaids as the causes of such deaths.
The report stated that in 2017, 270 workers were killed in formal sector while 972 others in informal sector.
In the year, the highest 488 workers were killed in transport sector, 179 in construction, 52 in apparel sector, 99 in farms, 103 day- labourers, 22 domestic workers, 24 rice mill workers, 28 fishermen, 8 steel mill and re- rolling mill workers, and 18 shipbreaking workers, according to the report.
