The family of engineer Farhana Haque and members of BUET Batch-88 have demanded an independent investigation and a written report into her death while inspecting renovation work at a primary healthcare centre in Rohingya Camp-3 in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar.
The demand was made on Sunday at a press conference organized by the BUET Batch-88 Students Welfare Foundation at the BUET Graduates Club in Banani.
Farhana, a civil engineering graduate of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology who completed her master’s in structural engineering at the Military Institute of Science and Technology, joined the International Organization for Migration (IOM) infrastructure unit in Cox’s Bazar as a senior field engineer on August 6 through third-party organization Enroute International Limited.
Just 18 days after joining, she died following an accident while performing her official duties on August 24. She was taken to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital, where she was declared dead. Farhana was the mother of a two-year-old son.
News reports at the time, citing the officer-in-charge of Ukhiya Police Station, said her hair and scarf became entangled in the rotating parts of a running generator during the inspection.
However, more than 5 weeks after her death, neither IOM nor Enroute has formally informed the family of the circumstances or cause of the accident, according to the family.
The family said it emailed IOM on September 3 and 12 seeking the incident report, CCTV footage, details of safety measures at the site and a meeting.
In a written response on September 17, IOM Bangladesh said work at the site had been suspended and records, including available CCTV footage, had been preserved. However, it said the footage did not capture the incident.
Enroute International has told the family that its review and investigation are still ongoing and that no incident report has yet been finalized, according to the statement.
Farhana’s father, engineer AK Fazlul Haque, said the family simply wanted to know what happened to his daughter.
“As a father, what I ask for is very simple: that we are able to know truthfully how my daughter died, and that no other parents have to lose a child this way,” he said.
Questions over workplace safety
Dr Syeda Sultana Razia, a chemical and occupational safety specialist and member of BUET Batch-88, said personal protective equipment was essential but represented only the last line of defense.
“The first question is whether the rotating parts of the running generator were guarded or enclosed, and whether the renovation work area was separately cordoned off,” she said.
She also questioned whether the fatal accident had been reported in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Bangladesh Labor Act 2006 and Bangladesh Labor Rules 2015, and whether workplace safety requirements under the ILO Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), had been followed.
Fahima Shahadat, a BUET Batch-88 member with 30 years of experience in Bangladesh’s construction industry, said the safety of patients and other visitors also needed to be examined.
“Sick people, older persons, pregnant women and children visit a primary healthcare centre. It is essential to know whether patients were being seen while the renovation work was under way and, if so, whether there was a safety barrier separating them from the work area and the running machinery,” she said.
She called on donor organizations involved in the project to seek the findings of the investigation from IOM and urged the Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) to help ensure that the findings are communicated to the family.
Md Hasibur Rashid, chairman of the BUET Batch-88 Students Welfare Foundation, said humanitarian construction sites should maintain adequate safety standards.
“We want every humanitarian construction site to be safe, so that no other family has to go through such an ordeal,” he said.
Members of BUET Batch-88 and former students of the Civil Engineering Department of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology attended the press conference.