Bangladesh: Workplace accidents take a toll on 1500 workers in 2013

Industry news

Bangladesh: Workplace accidents take a toll on 1500 workers in 2013

At least 374 workers died at workplace accidents excluding the Rana Plaza collapse that killed 1,134 people (officially confirmed) in the country in 2013, according to a survey report by a local development organisation - Safety and Rights.

According to the report, 374 workers died in 286 separate workplace incidents in 2013 while in 2012, 490 workers died in 327 workplace accidents which included 112 deaths in the fire at Tazreen Fashion Limited on the outskirts of capital Dhaka. The organization, which works for ensuring safety and rights of workers, launched the report at a press conference in Dhaka, recently.

It said the survey is based on monitoring 26 daily newspapers between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 of 2013. The report does not include deaths of workers outside their workplace or in road accidents on the way to or return from workplaces. The survey found that -- excluding the Rana Plaza deaths -- the highest number of workers (126) died while working on construction sites, factories (97) and service organizations (93) (like hotels, workshops, power supply organizations).

Similar to last year, the highest number of deaths involved electrocutions, with 99 deaths. 59 people died after being crushed through falling machinery or heavy load or hard objects. 58 workers died after falling from heights (i.e. from scaffolds). Other than Rana Plaza, 14 workers were killed in other building, wall or roof collapses. Other accidents included boiler explosions, chemical and gas explosions, suffocation as well as earth collapses.