Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations in the Readymade Garments (RMG) Industry in Bangladesh

Abstract

The readymade garment sector (RMG) in Bangladesh has become the backbone of the Bangladesh economy, producing more than 80 per cent of the country’s exports. The industry provides direct employment to more than 4 million workers, majority of who are female migrants from rural areas coming mainly from the poorest rural households. The broad objective of the present study, commissioned by the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MOL&E) to Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), is to make a comprehensive assessment of the current status of the RMG industry in Bangladesh with respect to industrial relations, workplace safety and compliance issues. As part of the survey methodology, a two-page mailed questionnaire was first administered to all member factories through BGMEA and BKMEA. Based on the information collected through the mailed questionnaire, a representative sample of 100 factories was drawn following a stratified random sampling procedure for detailed survey. The sample size was determined in a way so as to ensure less than 10 per cent error margin with 95 per cent of the time. The sample survey was limited to Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj districts that account for 80 per cent of the BGMEA member factories and nearly 94 per cent of the BKMEA member factories. Due to time and resource constraints, Chittagong district was left out of the sample survey. A structured questionnaire was administered to the management of the sample factories. A separate structured questionnaire was administered to five randomly selected workers of each sample factory to get their perception on the pertinent issues. In addition to the survey data, one Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with managers and workers was done separately in order to understand their knowledge gap towards compliance issues. Smaller factories, particularly those with less than 500 workers and factories located in Dhaka district have been found to be, in general, less complaint, and so greater attention with regard to monitoring and follow-up should be directed towards these factories. Factories located on old shared buildings are prone to safety threats as it is difficult to maintain compliance in a shared building. These factories should be asked to relocate their units in ―single factory buildings‖ within certain period of time, say 3-5 years. Lack of easy and unrestricted access to the staircase was observed in the case of a significant number of surveyed factories. This safety needs to be addressed urgently. Follow-up measures should be taken to remove warehouse located in the ground floor of the factory building and power sub-station located within the factory building. Factories located in rented premise without 20 feet access road should be asked to relocate their factories within a given time. Measures should be taken to ensure more broad-based training of workers in firefighting. Inadequate canteen and health facility are concerns that need to be attended urgently. Training on safety/compliance standards should be organised by BGMEA/BKMEA and/or MOL&E for managers of factories on a regular basis. The manpower and institutional capacity of the MOL&E need to be enhanced significantly to ensure effective monitoring and follow up of the diverse compliance issues. There is also the need for effective coordination amongst MOL&E, BGMEA, BKMEA, the foreign buyers and ILO with respect to monitoring and follow-up actions.