Occupational illness and Disease in Bangladesh

Business and industry in Bangladesh are different from the remainder of the world. Occupational health and industrial hygiene are poorly represented in the country. Health hazards and risk of occupational illness and disease are prevalent. A hierarchy of controls should be developed by the government and rules of engagement enforced. Tax credits should be given to employers to improve their workplaces and business culture. Investments in human capital should be made to evaluate conditions and provide sustainable improvements to reduce the liability and risk of illness and promote prosperity.

1. Occupational illness and Disease in Bangladesh Presented by: Bernard L. Fontaine, Jr., CIH, CSP, FAIHA The music is provided by Pixabay, which is now operated as part of Canva Germany GmbH.

2. Disclaimer This transformative remix of scientific work constitutes a fair-use of published copyrighted material as provided by section 107 of the United States copyright law. Some of the content material contained herein including but not limited to statements or photographs may contain content not authorized by its owner. All information is to be used for training and educational purposes only. The use of this information is allowed based on fair-use and applicable licenses. The presentation does not endorse any brand name of product, use or its application as described herein. The following presentation cannot be reproduced, sold, distributed, or otherwise used in any other than training and educating people on the subjects related to the advancement of the occupational and environmental health and safety profession and career opportunities for protecting workers, public and the work environment both now and in the future.

3. Employed Population by Formal and Informal Sector Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), 2018

4. Employed Population by Formal and Informal Sector Source: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), 2018

5. Source: Getty Images

6. Rangpur the Center of Northern Bangladesh Source: Getty Images

7. Traditional Fishing Boats at Cox's Bazar Beach, Bangladesh Source: Getty Images

8. Boat Traffic on the Buriganga River Source: Getty Images

9. Women work at a garment factory located in Savar, Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s $19-billion garment industry attracts some of the world's biggest clothing brands due of low cost.

10. On daily average a worker can sew more than a thousand pieces. Source: Andrew Biraj/Reuters Textile and Garment Industry Source: Getty Images

11. An informal garment factory located on the outskirts of the center of Dhaka .

12. Bangladeshi workers at a garments factory in Gazipur outskirts of Dhaka. Photo: Mehedi Hasan/NurPhoto via Getty Images

13. Female garment worker sews a piece of cloth at Zaber and Zubair Fabrics Ltd., at a Bangladeshi textile factory in Dhaka, June 11, 2021 .

14. The working conditions and facilities are of much lower quality than most formal export oriented factories as they aren't subjected to similar safety controls.

15. Workers in many leather tanneries in the Hazaribagh neighborhood of Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital, including children as young as 11, become ill because of exposure to hazardous chemical exposures or injured in horrific workplace accidents. Bangladeshi factories dump some 22,000 cubic meters of hazardous waste into the Buriganga River daily.

16. Dangerous Storage of Toxic Chemicals Used in the Leather Tanning Process Source: The Asia Foundation

17. Dangerous Chemicals in Small Factory Photo: Dreamtime

18. Workers are exposed to cancer causing chemicals like hexavalent chromium and chromic acid in tanneries. Source: Workplace Health Without Borders 2015

19. Bangladeshi worker cuts raw animal hide. Photo: A.M. Ahad /Associated Press

20. Diseases from Chemical Exposure in Tannery Workers

21. Hazardous Chemicals on Workers’ Health in Tanning Industries of Bangladesh Risk Prioritization of Chemical Exposure Prioritization of Chemical Risk in Due to Overexposure Effect of hazardous chemicals on workers’ health in tanning industries of Bangladesh: A comprehensive risk analysis and control measures, Md Alamgir Hossain, Md Deen Amin Sarker, Md Sakhawat Hossain, and Mohammad Atiqur Rahman Shaon, Aalborg University, Esbjerg, Denmark. 2022.

22. Source: Getty Images

23. Bangladeshi boy processes animal hide at the highly polluted Hazaribagh tannery in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Photo: A.M. Ahad /Associated Press

24. Bangladeshi man works Feb. 6 inside a tannery factory in the highly polluted Hazaribagh tannery area in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Photo: A.M. Ahad /Associated Press

25. In this Oct. 9, 2012, a Bangladeshi man scoops out tannery waste for poultry and fish feed, on the Buriganga River banks in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Source: Getty Images

26. Photo: Adib Chowdhury

27. Children Bag Animal Fat for Soap Photograph: Getty Images

28. Worker fills extruder with plastic pellets after recycling the plastic. Source: Getty Images

29. Young laborer making metal components at a factory. Dhaka, Bangladesh Workers can be exposed to metal dust from grinding, sanding, and polishing metal parts. Source: Getty Images

30. Child Labor in Bangladesh Child collects rubbish from a steaming rubbish heap Children at a brick factory in Fetullah Source: Georgy - June 17, 2009

31. Source: Georgy - June 17, 2009 Jainal works in silver cooking pot factory.

32. Source: Georgy - June 17, 2009 Ten-year-old Shaifur working in a door lock factory in Old Dhaka . Unlike his colleague, Shaifur works without a mask.

33. Children Work in a Rickshaw Factory Source: Georgy - June 17, 2009

34. Source: Getty Images Young worker in a parts manufacturing shop in Dhaka, Bangladesh

35. Young garment worker at his working station. His work consists of stitching labels to blue jeans.

36. Workers making silver bowls in a small manufacturing plant in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Hands are covered in silver dust. No ventilation controls to remove airborne dust in the shop.

37. Source: Getty Images Workers manufacturing silver pottery.

38. Satellite image of the Bangladeshi coast north of Chittagong, where ships from around the world are beached decommissioned and dismantled. Government will not allow ships to be dismantled in a yard not HKC-certified after June 26, 2025. Image courtesy of NASA. Thousands of workers have been killed or maimed dismantling the world’s ships in Bangladesh.

39. Shipbreaking Around the World

40. Problems of Shipbreaking in Bangladesh Dirty and dangerous shipbreaking in Bangladesh has been strongly criticized both by global NGOs for many years, with marine pollution, hazardous waste dumping and unsafe working conditions, and illegal exploitation of child workers, being among the key areas of concern. Source: Getty Images

41. Source: Getty Images Worker in a shipyard in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

42. Source: Getty Images Worker in a shipyard in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

43. Source: Getty Images Worker in a shipyard in Dhaka, Bangladesh not protected against ultraviolet radiation from arc welding.

44. Source: Getty Images

45. Source: Getty Images

46. Source: Getty Images

47. Workers are exposed to lung cancer and asbestosis from exposure to dust containing asbestos fibers in shipyard breaking operations. Source: Workplace Health Without Borders 2015

48. Chittagong, Bangladesh: Breakers yards are dot the southeast coast where scuttled ships are torn apart by hand under dangerous conditions. Photo: Sean Smith/ Guardian

49. Source: Getty Images Workers in a shipyard in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

50. Source: Getty Images Worker in a shipyard in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

51. Worker in a shipyard in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Source: Getty Images

52. Dismantling Ships at Chittagong, Bangladesh Photograph: Sean Smith/Guardian

53. Photo: Dreamtime Hazardous waste from shipbreaking which includes asbestos and heavy metals, fuel oils, polychlorinated biphenyls and other toxins.

54. Hazardous Materials from Dismantling Ships Crude oil from shipbreaking Oil spills from dismantled ships Asbestos-containing materials found in the yards. Environmental impact on inter-tidal sediment and soil

55. Source: Getty Images

56. Torch cutters are exposed to the fumes of heavy metals like inorganic lead, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium. Other hazardous materials include anodes and electrical equipment. Ship surfaces are painted with industrial coatings and antifouling materials that contain organotin compounds. Source: Getty Images

57. Worker washes a block of steel cut out from a ship at the PHP Shipbreaking yard in Chattogram, Bangladesh on September 23, 2021. Photo: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Abid Alam

58. Shipbreakers are not provided any respirators or personal protective clothing or equipment. Photograph: Sean Smith/Guardian

59. A magnetic crane transferring parts of a ship at the PHP Shipbreaking Yard in Chattogram, Bangladesh. Photo: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Abid Alam

60. Cable carriers in front of toxic fire of burning styrofoam. Photo: Michael Hettwer

61. Asbestos pipe lagging from ship being dismantled. Photo: NGO Shipbreaking Platform

62. Dhaka shipyard is one of the leading shipyards in Bangladesh, where workers are working in hazardous conditions. Photo by Md Mehedi Hasan/Pacific Press/Light Rocket via Getty Images

63. Street market in Dhaka. Rich craft-making tradition, including items fashioned from wood, bamboo, silver, gold, brass, conch shell, cane, silk, jute, cotton, and leather. Source: Getty Images

64. Total Cultivable Land for Vegetable Production Source: Poppy Khatun, Arup Islam, Sabbya Sachi, Md. Zahorul Islam, Purba Islam, Pesticides in vegetable production in Bangladesh: A systemic review of contamination levels and associated health risks in the last decade, Toxicology Reports, Volume 11, 2023, Pages 199-211.

65. Pesticides Used by Farmers of Paddy Field in Manikganj, Bangladesh Source: Bhattacharjee et al. 2013

66. Source: Getty Images

67. Photo: Michael Hettwer

68. Tea workers living condition are impoverished with without proper sanitation, drinking water and primary medical care. Rather they defecate in the open field and drinks the canal water that is a major source of water-borne diseases. Photo: Michael Hettwer

69. Tentulia Tea House Photo: Michael Hettwer

70. Roadside and village center tea shops in Bangladesh Ginger tea is often a specialty and some of the world’s greatest, freshly minted snacks. Photo: Michael Hettwer

71. Photo: Michael Hettwer

72. Photo: Michael Hettwer

73. Foundry workers pouring molten metal from ladle. Workers are exposed to metal fumes without any mechanical local exhaust ventilation or use of respiratory protection. Source: Getty Images

74. Source: Getty Images

75. Source: Getty Images A boy working in a metal casting factory in Dhaka.

76. Source: Getty Images

77. Source: Getty Images

78. Source: Getty Images

79. Hazardous Working Conditions for Dhaka’s Migrants Source: Photojournalist Mushfiqul Alam

80. Besides metal fume, foundry workers are exposed to toxic metals fumes, silica dust and polynuclear aromatic compounds in air. Source: Photojournalist Mushfiqul Ala m Foundry worker not provided with a respirator or any mechanical local exhaust ventilation.

81. Source: Photojournalist Mushfiqul Alam

82. Source: Photojournalist Mushfiqul Alam

83. Source: Photojournalist Mushfiqul Alam

84. Source: Photojournalist Mushfiqul Alam

85. Source: Photojournalist Mushfiqul Alam

86. Source: Photojournalist Mushfiqul Alam

87. Source: Photojournalist Mushfiqul Alam

88. Source: Getty Images Dockyard Worker in Sadarghat, Dhaka, Bangladesh

89. Source: Getty Images Dockyard Worker in Sadarghat, Dhaka, Bangladesh

90. Dockyard Worker in Sadarghat, Dhaka, Bangladesh Source: Getty Images

91. Source: Getty Images Dockyard Worker in Sadarghat, Dhaka, Bangladesh

92. Workers in a ballon factory in Kamrangir Char in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Constant bending creates an ergonomic hazards for workers.

93. Source: Getty Images Bangladeshi children work in a balloon factory at Kamrangir Char in Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 29, 2014.

94. Source: Getty Images Bangladeshi children work in a balloon factory at Kamrangir Char in Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 29, 2014.

95. Source: Getty Images

96. The Bangladeshi government has largely downplayed the problem of arsenic in the drinking water. Photo: Human Rights Watch

97. 40,000 People in Bangladesh Die Each Year from Arsenic-Related Illness from Contaminated Water Photo: Palash Khan/Corbis via Getty

98. Millions of People Exposed to Arsenic-Contaminated Drinking Water Residents collect drinking water from a water tanker in the Mirhajaribagh district of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Boy draws a bucket of drinking water from a Dhaka well. Scale of the arsenic problem is an obstacle for sustained environmental action. Photos: Palash Khan/Corbis via Getty

99. Source: Getty Images Black oxide or blackening is a conversion coating for ferrous materials, stainless steel, copper and copper based alloys, zinc, powdered metals, and silver solder. Standard black oxide is magnetite (Fe3O4). It is a popular finish on black bolts, nuts and washers.

100. The manufacture of black iron oxide is considered to be one of the most hazardous occupations in Bangladesh. Workers work in extreme conditions without any safety measures such as safety goggles, face masks, gloves, work boots and so on. (Photo by Probal Rashid/Light Rocket via Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

101. Brick Kilns within Dahak, Bangladesh A brick kiln worker in Bangladesh. Source: Dipankar Sarkar/Kalu Institute.

102. Workers are exposed to lung cancer, silicosis, and COPD from exposure to crystalline silica dust in brick kilns. Copyright @ Workplace Health Without Borders 2015

103. Brick kiln workers are exposed to respirable crystalline silica dust after the bricks are cured and offloaded for shipment. Workers are not given any respiratory protection. Picking up and lifting the bricks for transport create ergonomic concerns.

104. Life of Brick Kiln Workers Photos by Sumon Das

105. Hewn from the earth: Sinewy men carry the tools they use to excavate the mud from which bricks are made.

106. Life Of Brick Kiln Workers Brick kiln workers have to work for about 12-14 hours. They are very simple people. Work on these brickyards last for about nine months. The process of manufacturing bricks from clay involves the preparation of clay, molding, and then drying and burning of bricks. Life Of Brick Kiln Workers: Photo Series by Sumon Das

107. Life Of Brick Kiln Workers: Photo Series by Sumon Das

108. Dotted across Bangladesh are thousands of slender chimneys piercing the horizon above brick kilns which, according to the UN, produce some 12million bricks a year to feed a construction boom.

109. A man walks barefoot through the rubbish dump in Sylhet alongside a truck. There is rubbish as far as the eye can see.

110. These pickers wear no gloves or protective clothing as they sort through the junk, which can contain dangerous waste from hospitals.

111. Acrid fumes from burning waste fill the lungs of people living and working on the dump in one of the richest cities in Bangladesh.

112. . A Bangladeshi man works in a recycling facility on May 30, 2013 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Source: Getty Images

113. A Bangladeshi woman works in a recycling facility on May 30, 2013 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Source: Getty Images

114. Source: Getty Images Bangladeshi man working in a gravel pit.

115. Coal Workers in Bangladesh Laborers working at coal mines in Dhaka, Bangladesh, carry heavy loads of coal on top of their heads. The job earns them about three U.S. dollars a load. VCG Photo

116. Coal workers wear no masks, the work also threatens their health. VCG Photo

117. Workers offload ship carrying coal.

118. Ships filled with thousands of tons of coal dock on the river's side before transporting the coal to local businesses and power generators. /VCG Photo