Bangladesh’s Western Marine Shipyards has witnessed a 99% reduction in accidents. Photograph: WMS
In a cavernous hangar, an imam recites a short prayer as employees gather round. When he has completed, managers sporting white overalls and hardhats mount the platform, pick up wooden mallets and strike an aluminium keel.
The noise ricochets close to Western Marine Shipyards, 1 of Bangladesh’s leading shipyards, as absolutely everyone applauds. The keel is the basis and spine of any ship, and this short keel-laying ceremony marks the begin of work on the shipyard’s most recent buy. Work also recommences on the 13 other ships, fishing trawlers and ferries in different stages of construction at the yard.
Shipbuilding is a development industry for the nation, bringing in considerably-essential foreign currency. Export earnings from ship development reached $ 46m in 2010-eleven and the government hopes the sector will contribute 4%-5 % of GDP by 2015 – and possibly develop 1m jobs.
3 years in the past, problems at this Chittagong shipyard had been extremely distinct, with one,000 injuries a month in a workforce of 3,500. Now, through reasonably basic measures, there has been a 99% reduction in accidents.
This has been attained by way of a public-private partnership among Western Marine and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to promote better well being and security in the workplace. A 3-yr partnership, portion of bilateral German advancement co-operation in collaboration with the ministry of wellness and loved ones welfare, was the first of its kind in Bangladesh utilizing personal sector infrastructure for the provision of public wellness providers.
The aim was to make sure a match and healthy workforce, by way of better accessibility to wellness providers, and the business agreed to build a health clinic. The wellness ministry pays for a nurse, and the shipyard pays for a element-time physician – who also attends to the nearby community – and two paramedics, who are also obtainable to the regional community, in which numerous of the workers live.
Following a welder was electrocuted and died whilst functioning without having protective equipment, Western Marine set about analysing the hazards and hazards employees faced – such as eye injuries and harm to hearing from noise. A health and security policy was drawn up to tackle the higher accident charges, training was provided for managers and workers, and protective clothes and products have been distributed.
Rigid reporting procedures had been established, so that every single incident or accident was recorded and investigated, and preventive measures implemented. The shipyard also recruited a wellness and security adviser to monitor, record and deal with any important troubles. The influence of these measures was quick and dramatic.
Well being and safety is now embedded in the company’s practices. “The initial issue is that when you do any task you guarantee the security is assured for all the employees – that is the leading priority,” says Arifur Rahman Khan, the firm’s technical director, “Which is how we begin our day.” In the past 3 years there have been no fatal accidents.
As a result, the clinic can focus on typical health checks for employees, to determine perform-related problems. The underlying philosophy is that prevention is greater than cure . “If we look right after our people, we’ll get better perform from them,” says Abu Mohammed Fazle Rashid, the deputy managing director.
Kemal Hasan, a welder, says circumstances have improved enormously. Now, he constantly wears gloves, protective overalls and a face mask, which prevent a lot of the injuries that previously occurred. There are fewer stoppages due to accidents, he says, and morale has improved. Workers want to keep with the organization simply because conditions are greater than elsewhere.
Considering that the Rana Plaza garment factory collapsed in April, with the loss of a lot more than 1,100 lives and 2,500 employees injured, and fatalities in fires in other factories, international consumers are increasingly demanding better overall health and safety checks. There is also a developing recognition that health and security are not just a matter of worker’s rights, but also an essential improvement situation. One particular worker often supports a massive extended family members, so fatalities or injuries can be catastrophic for communities. A healthy and productive workforce is important for economic improvement, and employers have a vital role to play.
Bangladesh has come underneath intense worldwide strain to overhaul labour laws and working problems. Nevertheless, Dr Paul Rueckert, GIZ’s principal adviser for overall health in Bangladesh, believes as well much consideration has been targeted on reactive processes to deal with fire and development hazards alternatively of introducing a lot more extensive occupational health and safety programs. Impetus for change must come from the owners and managers of the sector, he says, not just be imposed by government inspectors, who are number of and can’t be all over the place at when.
Rueckert believes there has in no way been a stronger crucial for powerful occupational wellness and safety measures, and hopes the Marine Shipyards undertaking will turn into a model for other industries. The challenge will be to convince other employers in Bangladesh to stick to suit, and accept that workers’ health and safety should be a priority for each financial improvement and far better enterprise.
Bangladesh shipbuilder sets benchmark in overall health and safety standards | Ruth Evans
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