Effectiveness of Health and Safety at Work Place in Bangladesh Essay

Effectiveness of Health and Safety at Work Place in Bangladesh - Essay Example Fire and collapse incidents proved that compliance with employee safety was not being assured and workers were forced to work in vulnerable working conditions to keep their body and soul together. On 24 April 2013, a very grave collapse of garments industry was observed at a ten storey building in Bangladesh. It made the entire world suspicious of what could have happened. The accident took place in well known Rana Plaza where five garment factories were running with worldwide interactions. Many renowned brands were used to interact with garment factories in Bangladesh because of good quality of garments at cheaper costs. However the poor health and safety conditions are thought to be responsible of the deadliest building collapse in the history of Bangladesh (BBC News 2013). It is right to remark that it has become an alarming situation for governing bodies in order to cope the global defame and for resuming the relationships for trade and business. In near past, before the lethal c ollapse, Bangladesh remained a center of attention for international buyers because of extremely low wage rates. According to Minimum Wage Board (2010), the average wage in Bangladesh was Taka 3000/- which is extremely low as compared to contemporary market rate (Mondy and Noe et al. 2005). 2. The Accident The tragic collapse in Sawar on 24th April 2013 was one of the most astonishing historical accidents. The said plaza, situated in Sawar, Dhaka, was tremendously collapsed at 8:58 a.m on that day. The plaza building has been estimated to have 5000 workers employed in five garments factories. According to the government press release, around 1131 workers kicked the bucket in the accident and their bodies were rescued. The government spokesman further divulged that 2438 workers were rescued alive. In the collapse five garment factories, one bank, ATM booths, a market and parking lots were devastated (Mehr 2013). Rescue services were offered by Bangladesh army, Fire and civil defense services, Bangladesh Police and several volunteer welfare and nongovernmental organization. The made the injured reach to hospitals and different first aid spots according to the severity of injury. Emergency was enforced in public as well as in private hospitals at Dhaka (BBC News 2013). It has been reported that a morning before the collapse, a two inch crack was observed in ground pillars of the building. By hearing the news, several journalists of leading television channels arrived at the building. They covered the news and were lean to talk to the owner of building Sohel Rana. After the call, the owner personally came to the building and said that the crack is not dangerous. It can be managed without enforcing any emergency in the building. The peace of the building must not be disturbed. He asked the journalists not to report the news. He let out the situation of building satisfactory in all respects and went away. A local engineer visited the building and told that the condi tion is severely vulnerable; the building must be emptied immediately and should be inspected by a competent team of professional engineers (Quinn 2013). By seeing the response of the building owner, the garment factories’ owners decided to close the factories. From the next day, labors were called for strike.