Workplace accidents claim 538 lives in 2021

At least 538 workers were killed in 399 workplace accidents across the country in 2021, according to a survey report of Safety and Rights Society.

In 2020, 432 workers died in 373 workplace accidents, the study unveiled Friday said.

In the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic, many workers could not work for about five months - from April to August - due to various restrictions, including lay offs, but the number of deaths from workplace accidents rose.

The most dreadful incident was the fire at the Shezan Juice factory in Rupganj, Narayanganj, where 52 workers were burnt to death.

Also, five workers were killed in a fire at Romana Rubber Factory in Soarighat and another five workers died from a fire at a plastic factory in Santahar, Bogura.

SRS prepared the report by monitoring 26 daily newspapers - 15 national and 11 local newspapers - from January 1 to December 31 of 2021.

The report did not include the deaths of workers outside workplaces or in road accidents on their way to or returning from workplaces. However, on-duty workers who were killed in road accidents have been counted in the report.

The study found that the highest number of deaths occurred in the transport sector as 150 transport workers were killed in road crashes.

Around 138 workers were also killed in construction; 112 in manufacturing, 86 in service, 52 in agriculture sectors.

Road accidents were found to be one of the main causes of workplace accidents that killed 156 workers.

Also, 82 workers died from electrocution and 72 in fire incidents; 58 died after falling from heights and 49 in lightning strikes.

Some 32 workers died after being crushed through falling machinery or heavy load or hard objects; 30 died from inhaling poisonous gas at septic or water tanks.

And 27 workers were killed in building wall or roof collapses while 23 died in explosions. The rest of the workers died from drowning.

The road accidents occurred due to uncontrolled transportation systems, obstruction of law enforcement, the report finds.

Most of the electrocutions occurred when workers were doing electrical work without taking any safety measure, using torn wire by temporary joining, operating machinery without care, working under the overhead electric line and when iron rods carried by construction workers came into contact with live electric lines and due to enormous negligence by both the workers and the employers.

The survey also found that lack of fire extinguishing system, emergency exit, and non-approval of the concerned department to run the factory, and unskilled workforce were the reasons for fire accidents.