OSHE Foundation (Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation), a development platform that works on labour issues, has placed an 11-point recommendation to ensure a decent and safe working environment within the leather industry in Bangladesh.
The recommendations were placed from a human chain programme held in front of the National Press Club in the city on Saturday (October 7, 2023).
The OSHE Foundation arranged the human chain programme to mark the World Day for Decent Work-2023.
Md Alam Hossain, head of the project of Bangladesh OSHE Foundation; presided over the event, while Abul Kalam Azad, president of Tannery Workers Union; read out the declaration. Leaders and workers of various trade unions and right platforms were present at the human chain programme. Among them, Soma Akhter and Abdur Rab of Tannery Workers Union and Tonmoy Nath, communication officer of OSHE Foundation.
Speakers of the event said that the OSHE Foundation remains dedicated to advocating for workers’ rights, fair treatment, and a safe working environment not only in the leather industry but also in various other sectors.
After the human chain programme, Building Sustainable Leather Project, an initiative by OSHE, also brought out a colourful procession in the city to observe the World Day for Decent Work. The procession paraded different city roads.
With the theme ‘Reutilization, Recycling, Reconstruction: Ensuring Fair Waste Management in the Leather Industry for Decent Work’, the day was observed in Bangladesh and across the world. Alongside the OSHE Foundation, different other organisations arranged various programme to mark the day.
The primary focus of the event of OSHE Foundation was to shed light on the current state of workers’ rights in the country, emphasising the importance of fair wages, the proper implementation of workplace safety and health regulations, effective waste management, adherence to occupational safety measures, and addressing the realistic demands put forth by workers’ organisations for the establishment of high-quality workplaces.
Placing the 11-point recommendation in the human chain programme, the OSHE Foundation called for realising the recommendations for the sake of working people and a vibrant leather industry in the country.
The recommendations are: (1) Stringently enforcing national and international standards and regulations to ensure an immediate, hygienic, and safe working environment in the leather industry. (2) Effectively managing solid and liquid waste, which includes the establishment of a central waste treatment facility in tanneries. (3) Enhancing the existing labor inspection system and creating a uniform checklist for inspecting the leather industry. (4) Ensuring proper factory maintenance, safe storage of chemicals, and the responsible use of chemicals. (5) Encouraging employers to adhere to occupational health and safety policies, labor laws, and other relevant regulations. (6) Identifying and communicating potential occupational health and safety risks, and if necessary, implementing mandatory health and safety training programs. (7) Establishing and enforcing safety committees within factories while providing appropriate safety equipment to workers. (8) Establishing a minimum wage board and announcing a new wage structure in line with market prices for tannery workers. (9) Swiftly implementing all sections of labor law, including the issuance of appointment letters and identity cards to workers. (10) Ensuring necessary occupational health and safety measures for women workers, particularly with regard to the full implementation of maternity welfare facilities. (11) Creating a uniform TCC committee for the leather industry and developing an eco-friendly, modern leather industrial city by implementing waste management and CETP procedures to facilitate Leather Working Group (LWG) certification.