Deaths in certified shipbreaking yards expose enforcement failures

On 28 April, a fitter foreman at Janata Steel in Sitakunda suffered severe injuries to his chest, neck and head while dismantling a giant gang stair. He returned to work after just five days. This raises questions about whether workers can take adequate time off without fear of repercussions.

A few weeks earlier an electrician at NB Steel Recycling Yard, operated by KR Ship Recycling Yard, died from an electric shock at work. IndustriALL affiliate Bangladesh Metal Workers' Federation (BMF) intervened to ensure that the deceased worker's family received compensation above industry standards. However, the incident highlights deeper systemic failures.

Safe working conditions must be non-negotiable and employers who fail to ensure them must be held accountable. There is a need to establish mechanisms that guarantee long-term support for affected workers and their families.

Transparency and accountability remain weak

KR Ship Recycling Yard recently received a government Green Factory Award for safety, yet it is not compliant in practice. These accidents show that the Bangladeshi government has yet to ensure effective enforcement of the Hong Kong Convention's standards. Therefore, urgent state intervention is needed.

Even with a framework that mandates audits, training and time-bound oversight, repeated fatalities in certified yards raise serious questions about how these standards are being monitored and enforced in practice. The issue is no longer if standards exist. Instead, it is whether workers have any real power to stop dangerous work before it turns fatal.

IndustriALL director for shipbuilding and shipbreaking, Walton Pantland, says:

"It is heartbreaking to hear of two more accidents in Bangladeshi shipbreaking yards in April, including a fatality. This is the third fatality this year at KR Ship Recycling, a company that is supposed to be HKC compliant and is certified by the government with a DASR. There have been three deaths and 17 injuries in Bangladesh this year, at a time when yards are not particularly busy. This is absolutely unacceptable and shows that no lessons have been learned by the industry.

"It is also tragic that although the EIS scheme is ready to be implemented, it is not in place yet, meaning that the family of the worker who died will not receive a pension. This avoidable death needs to be the catalyst that brings change to the industry. This cannot go on."

IndustriALL affiliate BMF adds:

"The recent accident in Bangladesh's ship recycling industry is a tragic reminder of the urgent need for transparency and accountability. A full and independent investigation must uncover the causes of this disaster and workers themselves must be empowered to shape safer futures through active participation in joint OSH committees and by exercising their fundamental right to refuse unsafe work."