A major intervention to improve working conditions in Bangladesh

A series of major disasters over the last several years, including a fire incident that killed 112 workers and a factory building collapse that killed 1,122 workers, have provoked widespread calls domestically and internationally to improve the workplace health and safety situation in Bangladesh. The Ministry of Labour and Employment's Department of Inspections for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) in Bangladesh is in charge of making sure that workers in all industries are safe, healthy, and well-cared for. Following the event of Rana Plaza in 2013 the Bangladesh government initiated some reforms. Together with funding from Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom and with technical support from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), DIFE undertook an ambitious drive to strengthen its planning and operational mechanisms. To improve the labor inspectorate's efficiency, accountability, and transparency, a focus on digitizing inspection services was made.

To make labour inspections easier to conduct and more efficient, Bangladesh has now developed a digital platform called the Labour Inspection Management Application (LIMA) system. LIMA seeks to increase labour inspection processes' efficacy, efficiency, and transparency by utilising technology. It represents a major advancement in Bangladesh in the way data on working conditions are collected, stored, analysed and used and is considered to be a major shift from the earlier paper-based system that was associated with irregularities, lack of transparency and tardiness.

LIMA, a knowledge management system, combines all of DIFE's essential information and dissemination requirements, enabling it to function more efficiently. By enabling other users, like employers and employees, to access information and complete daily tasks like obtaining factory licences or filing complaints with DIFE via a dedicated app, LIMA further improves data accessibility and transparency. LIMA was launched in March 2018 and in 2019 all inspections started using it. Later, with financial assistance from GIZ, an improved version of LIMA was created and it started operations in June 2022.

At the moment, LIMA has four modules.

The figure here shows how reports are generated by industrial sector, district, and date. For example, since January 01 2024 up to now, 15,740 inspections have been done. While the information obtained and reported may not be comprehensive, it is still the start of a functional and promising system in Bangladesh toward improving the working conditions. The numbers reported vary by industries depending on the nature of business and work, and by districts, as some are more industrialised than others.

The benefits of Lima include collecting and managing data better, promoting decision-making based on evidence, delivering effective and efficient service, and creating transparency and accountability in all of its operations. For employers, LIMA helps in providing online licensing services, submitting occupational accidents, injury and disease reports, submitting Safety Committee data and searching for OSH experts. It also covers remediation status updates. For workers, they can submit complaints online, track their status as well as view reports and data on working conditions in various sectors. LIMA helps others in this field to view statistics on labour inspection, working conditions and OSH, view information on registered factories and establishments and search knowledge base on OSH, labour inspection, and factory safety.

There are two types of labour inspections: the routine ones focus on regular inspections and follow-up or re-inspections and the special inspections focus on lay-out/design, licensing, occupational accidents and diseases, worker complaints, worker grievances, sudden inspections related to child labour and extra work. Special inspections also include occasional surveys for data collection, and those done on special instruction. Inspections can be announced and unannounced. Special inspections are usually conducted unannounced.

The Figure above (Source: DIFE Annual Report) shows the current use status of LIMA and it demonstrates quick uptake of LIMA in conducting and reporting on factory inspections in Bangladesh.

Working conditions in Bangladesh must improve. In industrialised nations with strong protective policies and practices in the workplace, including improved ergonomics, industrial hygiene practices and engineering controls, workplace health and safety has improved greatly. The vast majority of workers who are evaluated and treated for work-related illness or injury return to work without unexpected delays and/or disability in those countries. However, this is not the case in resource-poor countries including Bangladesh. Developing and using of LIMA appear to be a great step forward to ensure workers' safety and promote their wellbeing.

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