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

    Bakht, Zaid; Hossain, Monzur | June 2017
    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.
    Citation
    Bakht, Zaid; Hossain, Monzur. 2017. Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations in the Readymade Garments (RMG) Industry in Bangladesh. © Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/7747.
    Keywords
    Industrialization
    Industrial Economics
    Industrial Development
    Industrial Policy
    Weaving
    Textiles
    Textile Workers
    Wool Industry
    Silk Industry
    Small Scale Industry
    Medium Scale Industry
    Local Industry
    Export Oriented Industries
    Shoe Industry
    Clothing
    Hosiery Industry
    Fur Industry
    Leather Industry
    Income Distribution
    Demographic Indicators
    Social Justice
    Commerce and Industry
    Intra-Industry Trade
    Large Scale Industry
    Labor
    Textile Industry
    Rayon Industry
    Cotton Industry
    Clothing Industry
    Alleviating Poverty
    Anti-Poverty
    Extreme Poverty
    Fight Against Poverty
    Global Poverty
    Health Aspects Of Poverty
    Indicators Of Poverty
    Participatory Poverty Assessment
    Poverty Eradication
    Poverty Analysis
    Poverty In Developing Countries
    Poverty Reduction Efforts
    Urban Poverty
    Capital market
    Developing countries
    Market share
    Labor
    Work clothes industry
    Women's clothing industry
    Children's clothing industry
    Uniforms industry
    Underwear industry
    T-shirt industry
    Sweater industry
    Suspender industry
    Sport clothes industry
    Sleepwear industry
    Shirt industry
    Shawl industry
    Men's clothing industry
    Leather garments industry
    Textile industry and fabrics
    Fabrics
    Cloth
    Wool-growing industry
    Garment industry
    Apparel industry
    Belt industry
    Glove industry
    Footwear industry
    Social change
    Social accounting
    Inequality of income
    Economic growth
    Qualilty of Life
    Show allCollapse
    Citable URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11540/7747
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Thumbnail
    RR_188.pdf (993.7Kb)
    Author
    Bakht, Zaid
    Hossain, Monzur
    Theme
    Industry
    Poverty
    Labor Migration
    Small Medium Business

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