Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

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

Articles 2, 3(1)(a) and (b), 5, 13, 17 and 18 of the Convention. Inspection activities to improve occupational safety and health (OSH) standards in the Ready-Made Garment (RMG) sector. In reply to the Committee’s previous comment regarding the coordination activities of the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC) and the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), the Government indicates that the coordination takes place: (i) between the RSC and the DIFE under the framework of coordinated monitoring of building safety in the RMG sector; and (ii) within the Government Coordination Council (GCC).

With regard to the cooperation under the framework of coordinated monitoring of building safety in the RMG sector, the Government indicates that: (i) this is ensured through bilateral meetings, data and report sharing, technical discussions and joint working groups; (ii) a DIFE-RSC Working Group (WG) was created on 14 March 2023 with the objective to familiarize DIFE and the Industrial Safety Unit (ISU) with the work of the RSC and demonstrate how RSC can conduct its activities in a way that is supportive of DIFE; (iii) a ten-member review panel for the RSC, headed by the Inspector General of the DIFE, and consisting of technical experts along with RSC representatives, was formed in March 2022 to address the appeals received from workers who are aggrieved by the activities of the RSC. The review panel assessed a nine-storey building in December 2023 to examine risk factors. The structure was modified in line with the instruction of the review panel; (iv) at times DIFE conducts joint inspection with RSC on structural issue of factories; and (v) the RSC is sharing monthly reports with DIFE. Since December 2022, 17 monthly reports have been shared.

With regard to the activities of the GCC, the Government indicates that: (i) the Council has held seven meetings so far; (ii) it ensures that the activity of RSC complements the functions of other regulatory authorities of the Government, such as DIFE; and (iii) the RSC shared monthly and quarterly reports with the GCC. Since September 2023, eight monthly reports and one quarterly report were shared with the GCC.

With regard to the cooperation between the RSC and trade unions and safety committees (SCs), the Government indicates that: (i) the RSC continues to provide training to the factory’s SCs under the OSH training programme. As of May 2024, a total of 1,575 SCs have been enrolled in the programme and 19,771 SCs members have been trained. Recently, the RSC has started to train the SCs members of the Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) involving 132 factories; (ii) the SCs members are engaged in walkthrough inspections where they identify potential health hazards at the factory. As of May 2024, the factory’s SCs participated in 6,747 such inspections; and (iii) the RSC’s complaints unit manages OSH and non-OSH complaints under the scope of a pilot initiative.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the cooperation between DIFE and the RSC under the framework of coordinated monitoring of building safety in the RMG sector, including the number of joint inspections undertaken and their specific outcomes with respect to findings on fire safety, structural safety, and electrical safety. The Committee further requests the Government to continue to provide information on the activities of the GCC in relation to the monitoring of such coordination and on the frequency and content of the meetings held by the Council. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the coordination between the RSC and trade unions and safety committees, in particular with regards to the content of the training delivered, the number of RSC inspections carried out with the participation of the SCs and the number of complaints filed by trade unions to the RSC’s complaints unit.

Concerning the activities of the ISU, the Government indicates that: (i) it works in coordination with the RSC; (ii) it conducts special inspections of identified high risk factories and detailed risk analysis; (iii) it prepares initial assessments with recommendations for renovation works, and (iv) it coordinates with the GCC. The Government further indicates that the ISU is currently composed of nine inspectors (previously 12) who are trained in fire, electrical and structural safety. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the concrete activities carried out by the ISU, including the number of inspections of high-risk factories, the number of risk analyses prepared and of any other intervention conducted by the Unit in relation to industrial safety.

With regard to the activities of Remediation and Coordination Cell (RCC), the Government indicates that as of May 2023, the remediation activities in factories under the National Initiative (NI) have been taken over by the ISU. The ISU verifies the progress in the implementation of the corrective action plans (CAPs). Currently, out of the 1,549 factories that are part of the NI, 1110 are closed and the remaining 439 are under follow-up by the ISU. The Government adds that 70 factories received CAPs completion certificates. As for the procedure followed for the remediation process, the Government indicates that the 1549 NI factories were categorized into 3 types, based on their remediation possibilities, and CAPs were developed by the RCC for each category. The factories were categorized as: (i) category-1: remediation of factories easily possible by factories owner considering their technical capacity (173 factories); (ii) category-2: remediation of factories possible (346 factories); and (iii) category-3: remediation of factories challenging (1030 factories). As of September 2023, the ISU visited 173 factories in category 1. In addition, it started follow-up of factories in category 2 and 3 from June 2024.

The Committee further notes that the statistics provided by the Government regarding the number of cases reviewed and approved by the task forces established in relation to the structural, fire and electrical safety plans of factories correspond with the statistics provided in the previous reporting period. The Government expresses the hope that through the project entitled “Advancing Decent Work in Bangladesh”, launched in June 2024 and implemented by the ILO, the task forces will be meeting regularly.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the remediation activities in factories under the NI that have been undertaken by the ISU, including the outcome of the follow up actions adopted with respect to each category of factories part of the NI. The Committee also requests that the Government provide updated information on the activities of the task forces in reviewing and approving the structural, fire and electrical safety plans of factories, including the numbers of plans approved and rejected and the reasons for plan rejections.

Article 3(2). Additional functions entrusted to labour inspectors. Conciliation. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that DIFE is not involved in conciliation activities and that their action is limited to settling complaints through consultations. The Committee notes that section 124a of the Bangladesh Labour Act (BLA), 2006 and section 113 of the Bangladesh Labour Rules (BLR), 2015 provide for conciliation duties of inspectors in relation to wages and other dues. The Committee also notes that in its previous report, the Government indicated that 398 labour inspectors were engaged in conciliation functions, giving their full efforts to resolve disputes. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the activities of DIFE in relation to the conciliation of wage related disputes, as provided in the BLA and in the BLR, and the time spent by inspectors performing these functions in relation to the time spent carrying out their primary duties. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide detailed information on the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that conciliation functions entrusted to labour inspectors do not interfere with the effective discharge of their primary duties or prejudice in any way the authority and impartiality which are necessary to inspectors in their relations with employers and workers.

Articles 9 and 14. Notification of industrial accidents and cases of occupational diseases. The Committee notes that, in reply to its previous request, the Government indicates that DIFE organizes meetings with employers, safety committees and workers to raise the importance of reporting occupational accidents and diseases. During inspections DIFE also encourages the factory management to report occupational accidents and diseases. The Government indicates that between January 2023 and July 2024, 177 accidents were reported to DIFE through the Labour Inspection Management Application (LIMA) and one notice for occupational disease was sent to DIFE through LIMA in May 2024. The Government also refers to section 290 of the BLA which sets out the penalties for non-compliance with the obligation to report occupational accidents and diseases. The Committee notes that, according to this provision, failure to report accidents causing serious bodily injury is subject to a fine up to 1,000 Bangladeshi takas (approximately US$8.30), or if the accident results in loss of life, the non-reporting can be punished with imprisonment which may extend to six months, or with fine up to 3,000 takas (approximately US$25), or with both. The Committee also notes that the liability for non-reporting lays with “any person”. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to improve the rate of reporting of occupational accidents and diseases to DIFE and on the number of occupational accidents and diseases reported. The Committee further requests that the Government provide information on the number of fines issued by inspectors and the number of criminal cases initiated under section 290 of the BLA, specifying whether the liable party was the worker or the employer. In addition, the Committee once again requests the Government to give serious consideration to providing for sufficiently dissuasive penalties for non-compliance with reporting obligations in relation to cases of occupational accidents and diseases, and to provide information on developments in response to this request.

Articles 20 and 21. Publication and communication of annual labour inspection reports necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the labour inspection system. In reply to the Committee’s previous request, the Government indicates that a team has been assigned to work on developing a database of all workplaces liable to inspection with the number of workers employed therein while another team has been assigned to work on publishing the Annual Labour Inspection Report of DIFE by incorporating all the information required in Article 21 of the Convention. The Committee once again requests the Government to continue to take measures in order to ensure that the labour inspection report is prepared and published in accordance with Article 20 and that it contains all the information required under Article 21.