The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) on Saturday urged industry owners to invest in ensuring decent workplaces as it would help increase productivity.
"Occupational safety and health (OSH) should be ensured in all industries of the country. Safe industry is crucial in the transition from a least developed country to a developing country," FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin said.
He said many sectors were producing world-class products and ensuring a decent workplace would pave the way for export of the products.
The FBCCI president was speaking while inaugurating a two-day training workshop titled 'Basic OSH and OSH Management System' at the FBCCI auditorium in the city.
FBCCI safety council in association with International Labor Organization (ILO) is organizing the training workshop to ensure Occupational Safety and Health, according to a statement.
The safety cell representatives from four chambers and 12 associations and ILO representatives are participating in the training workshop.
The FBCCI president said during the post-LDC period, the issues of occupational safety and health would become more important for Bangladesh in international trade.
FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin
Keeping the future challenges in mind, the Bangladesh Investment and Development Authority (BIDA) in association with the FBCCI inspected about 5,200 factories, he informed.
Urging the industry owners to come forward to ensure occupational safety and health, Mr Uddin said, "Decent workplace would increase the productivity of the workforce, hence, entrepreneurs should consider spending on safety as an investment."
FBCCI senior vice president Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu in his speech said as FBCCI was committed to making the country's industries safer, it established a Safety Council of the apex trade body.
FBCCI safety council advisor Abu Nayeem Md Shahidullah said through the council, safety committees and safety units would be formed at the factory level.
Industrial accidents would decline if factory workers got safety training, he noted. The two-day workshop will train up the participants in strengthening occupational safety and health of chambers and associations, roles and responsibilities of safety cells while it would describe the importance of OSH, concepts and benefits of OSH, hazard and risk identification and assessment, legislative framework.
The other issues include OSH-related law and rules, OSH management, steps of effective OSH implementation, roles of owner and employees, responsibility of safety committee members, fire safety, rescue and first aid, occupational accidents and work-related illness and diseases, and internal communication.
