Ever since the Rana Plaza disaster nine years ago, industries throughout Bangladesh have been under intense scrutiny to ensure that such a tragedy never befalls our nation again.
However, the brunt of such measures have been concentrated exclusively on our RMG industry -- which is understandable as it is the backbone of our economy as it stands.
But as Bangladesh increasingly becomes a hub of industrialization, due to global and regional demand -- which is completely in line with our rising economy -- the administration will need to ensure that any and all industries scale up their safety and security measures in order to prevent future industrial disasters.
Unless such measures are codified into our industrial policy-making, tragedies such as Rana Plaza and last month’s chemical fire at a container depot in Chittagong will become the norm -- costing us precious lives while gravely impacting our economy in the process.
To that end, we agree with CPD’s recent statement that a comprehensive industrial safety framework for dangerous chemicals needs to be established, and go the extra mile in extending such framework to any burgeoning industries in Bangladesh.
Of course, policy can mitigate industrial disasters only to an extent when the primary reason why such tragedies are allowed to happen is negligence, corruption, and lack of accountability.
Rana Plaza happened due to the lethal oversight of the factory owners in ensuring worker safety by failing to uphold building code. It is due to the greed and lack of scruples of the few that many lost their lives and even more were injured irreparably.
The culture of impunity that pervades within the upper echelons of our industries needs to end.
Bangladesh is on the cusp of shedding its status as an LDC, well on its way towards achieving its middle income ambitions. However, all that progress is threatened by the looming spectre of industrial disasters.
Compliance and strict monitoring are the only way through which we can avoid future tragedies.
