Identifying the importance of workplace health and safety training in Bangladesh

Abstract

According to the Trading Economics website, 80% of Bangladesh's $210 billion export revenue comes from their Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industry. The success of this industry stems from the delivery of very low manufacturing costs to offer offshore clients. Sadly, these low costs are often achieved at the expense of safe work environments for garment workers. Conditions in RMG workplaces are notoriously dangerous, with several major accidents making international headlines. Although these tragedies have set the wheels of Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) processes in motion, there are still significant problems. Risks are still too high due to improper planning and the resistance of industry owners, managers, and even workers in embracing WHS procedures and training. Therefore, the objective of this research was to uncover the current WHS situation in the RMG industry in Bangladesh, by evaluating WHS training needs, practices and beliefs among the workers and managers. To do this, we gathered empirical evidence via a purpose-built quantitative survey of closed-ended questions based on a Likert Scale. Of 508 employees approached to participate in the study, from the 21 export-oriented RMG factories, 315 employees responded. The results showed strong links between gender, age and years of work experience, and the levels of WHS awareness among RMG workers. Indeed, increasing awareness of hazards prevents accidents by increasing worker caution. Participant responses demonstrated a positive correlation between fulfilling WHS training needs as well as a positive WHS culture in improving health and safety in the RMG industry. The outcomes of this study are intended to identify and update employee WHS training needs and inform the development of a roadmap for the training, assessment and management of effective WHS in the industry. This research also aims to guide Training Needs Analysis (TNA) for WHS in the RMG industry, by specifically evaluating participants' comprehension and retention pre and post-training.