Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq on Friday said health service and safety at workplace are the legal rights of a labourer and there is no alternative to ensuring safe and pleasant work environment in implementing the rights, reports BSS.
"The issue of compliance with safety rules at workplace, ensuring safe and pleasant work environment have become very important worldwide in the recent time to ensure sustainable development. Ensuring occupational safety in factories and other workplaces currently are not limited to the whims of government or factory owners anymore. Ensuring pleasant work environment has now become responsibility of the factory owner," he said.
The minister said these while addressing a discussion marking National Occupational Health and Safety Day, as chief guest at Osmani Memorial Auditorium. Organized by Ministry of Labour and Employment, the discussion was addressed by State Minister for Labour and Employment Begum Monnujan Sufian, MP, as special guest.
Presided over by Labour and Employment Secretary Md Ehsan-E-Elahi, the discussion was also addressed by Inspector General of Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments Md. Nasir Uddin Ahmed, Directorate General of Department of Labour Khaled Mamun Chowdhury, Head of Cooperation of Canadian High Commission in Dhaka Joe Goodings and ILO Country Director Tuomo Poutiainen, among others.
Emphasising on occupational health and safety, the law minister further said concerned workplaces have to be safe and pleasant for the labourers as per the country's labour acts and regulations, and it is internationally recognized.
State Minister for Labour and Employment Begum Monnujan Sufian in her speech said the present government has started the work to include all the labourers working in country's institutional and non-institutional sectors in a database under Bangladesh Labour Information Management System project.
"We have taken the initiative of introducing pension for all the labourers. We have taken initiative to amend Bangladesh Labour Law afresh for the safety of labourers. This amended labour law will be effective in the economic zones as well," she added.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
