Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Bangladesh (Ratification: 1972)

The Committee takes note of the additional information provided by the Government on 30 September 2021 on the progress made in the implementation of a roadmap to address all the outstanding issues mentioned in a complaint pending under article 26 of the ILO Constitution.

Legislation. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report on the adoption of several instruments concerning the work carried out by the labour inspectorate, such as the escalation (compliance) protocol for remediation adopted in 2019 and the standard operating procedures adopted in 2020 on labour inspection, labour complaints investigation, approval of factory layout plan, registration and licensing of organizations, and investigation of occupational accidents. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of each of these instruments.

Articles 2, 3(1)(a) and (b), 5(a) and (b), 13, 17 and 18 of the Convention. Inspection activities to improve occupational safety and health (OSH) standards in the Ready-Made Garment (RMG) sector. With regard to its previous comments on the capacity of the competent public authorities to assume the monitoring of fire, electrical and structural safety in factories previously covered by the ALLIANCE and ACCORD initiatives, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that: (i) the Bangladesh worker safety initiative called NIRAPON was founded in 2019 with the aim of building upon the work of the ALLIANCE, which ceased its operations in December 2018 and that NIRAPON moved to North America and continues its operations from there; and, (ii) the ACCORD initiative ceased operations in May 2020 and its functions have been taken over by the ready-made garment (RMG) Sustainability Council (RSC). The Committee also takes note of the Government’s additional information that the Ministry of Public Administration (MOPA) is holding discussions with the ILO on the outline of a framework on how the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) and the RSC could collaborate for monitoring building safety in the RMG sector. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the work carried out by the NIRAPON initiative and the RSC, specifying the extent to which they monitor fire, electrical and structural safety in all factories previously covered by the ALLIANCE and the ACCORD, and indicating the number of inspections undertaken by each of the above-mentioned initiatives, the number and nature of corrective actions requested by each initiative, and the results of such corrective actions including – if there are factory closures – any measures to provide severance or new job prospects for affected workers. Concerning the NIRAPON initiative, the Committee requests the Government to indicate how it carries out its monitoring activities in practice while being based outside the country. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on any progress made in the development of a framework for coordinated monitoring of building safety in the RMG sector between the RSC and the DIFE.

As to its previous comments on progress towards the establishment of the Industrial Safety Unit (ISU) within the DIFE, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that a proposal to turn the Remediation Coordination Cell (RCC), which is responsible for monitoring the remediation work in all factories under the NATIONAL initiative, into a permanent ISU, has already been submitted by the DIFE and is pending approval by the MOPA. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on any progress made in the establishment of the ISU within the DIFE.

Moreover, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the work of the NATIONAL initiative, particularly on the fact that a number of factories that fell within its scope are now closed or monitored under other initiatives or authorities (629 factories are closed, 13 joined a private initiative and 12 are under the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority). The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that 101 factories have relocated or shifted building and 794 factories are undergoing follow-up by the RCC. In this respect, the Government specifies that the overall progress of the factory remediation is at 48 per cent as of June 2021. The Committee also notes from publicly available information that the escalation (compliance) protocol for remediation of 2019 aims at expediting remedial actions in the RMG factories inspected under the NATIONAL initiative. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of factories covered by the NATIONAL initiative as well as the number of factories undergoing follow-up by the RCC that have taken remedial actions. It also requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the escalation (compliance) protocol for remediation of 2019 as well as its results, including the number and nature of measures adopted. Lastly, noting the absence of the information on this respect, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the increase in the number of staff in the Government bodies responsible for the monitoring of fire, electrical and structural safety and their expertise or specialist qualifications and training, as well as on the number of inspections undertaken by these bodies and the corrective action requested.

Article 3(2). Additional functions entrusted to labour inspectors. The Committee notes that, in reply to its previous comments on the conciliation procedure under the responsibility of the DIFE, the Government provides information on the development of the conciliation procedure regarding the payment of wages and other benefits as provided for in section 124a (payment of dues including wages through conciliations) of the Bangladesh Labour Act and section 113 (reconciliation about the wage and other dues) of the Bangladesh Labour Rules. Noting once again the absence of information in this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide specific information on the proportion of time devoted to conciliation and mediation regarding the payment of wages and other benefits by indicating the number of complaints submitted and the number of conciliation and mediation procedures undertaken as a result.

Articles 9 and 14. Notification of industrial accidents and cases of occupational diseases. The Committee notes that, in response to its previous comments on the steps taken to improve the system for notifying the labour inspection services of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease, the Government states that: (i) the reporting system on occupational accidents and diseases has been digitalized and integrated as a module in the Labour Inspection Management Application (LIMA), which is being upgraded; and, (ii) a technical standard operating procedure on occupational disease is currently being developed for the inspectors. The Committee takes note of the Government’s additional information that the LIMA is currently being used at all the district offices of the DIFE and that inspections are already being undertaken using this system. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the functioning of the digital reporting system on occupational accidents and diseases of the LIMA, including any impact that it may have on the collection of statistics of industrial accidents and cases of occupational diseases. It also requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in the development of a technical standard operating procedure on occupational disease for labour inspectors. Furthermore, noting the absence of information in this regard, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide an assessment on the reasons for the underreporting of industrial accidents and the lack of reporting of any cases of occupational disease, to which the Committee referred in its previous comments. Finally, the Committee also requests the Government to indicate whether consideration is being given to providing for sufficiently dissuasive penalties for non-compliance with reporting obligations in relation to cases of occupational disease.

Articles 20 and 21. Publication and communication of annual labour inspection reports necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the labour inspection system. Availability of inspection statistics in relation to all sectors. With regard to its previous comments on further information on the establishment of a register of all workplaces liable to inspection, the Committee notes that the Government indicates that the process is ongoing to regularly update the information of the database of workplaces liable to inspection, which is available on the website of the DIFE, through registrations and licensing requests made in the LIMA. Lastly, the Committee notes with interest that the labour inspection reports for 2018, 2019 and 2020 have been published on the website of the DIFE. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on any progress made with regard to the establishment of a register of all workplaces liable to inspection. Noting that the annual labour inspection reports partially address the matters specified in Article 21 of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to pursue its efforts to ensure that the future annual labour inspection reports deal with all the matters specified in the abovementioned article, including with regard to: statistics of workplaces liable to inspection and the number of workers employed therein (Article 21(c)); statistics of violations and penalties imposed (Article 21(e)); and statistics of occupational diseases (Article 21(g)).

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2022.]