A barrel of sulphuric acid accidentally tipped over at a factory in the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate on October 3. The acid burnt four workers.

They had to be taken to the burn unit at Dhaka Medical College Hospital nearly 20 kilometres away.

Amid the awful city traffic, it took four hours to get them there and it was too late for one of them. Hashem Ali, 35, of Dinajpur, died.  

“We didn't know what to do immediately after the four suffered the acid burns. There was no medicine or doctor nearby,” recalled Milon Hossain, one of the workers at the factory -- Mitali Tannery.

“We poured water on the wounds but that did not seem enough,” he said.

“Maybe Hashem could have been saved had it not been that late.”  

Like them, many workers suffered in the past as the tannery hub has no medical facilities.

Accidents are common at the estate where workers have to handle hazardous chemicals, often with little to no safety gear. If injured, they have to be taken to hospitals outside the estate and any delay on the way can be fatal.

To save the capital's lifeline -- the Buriganga -- majority of the tanneries have been relocated to the estate in Savar from Hazaribagh.

In the last couple of years, most of the 155 tanneries were shifted to the estate on 200 acres of land in Horindhara near the Dhaleshwari river.

As of December 31, 119 factories were in operation with nearly 20,000 workers, said tannery owners.

However, the project, under which the factories were moved, did not include any hospital for the workers.

“Our work is extremely risky. Six months ago, two workers died after they fell into a chemical tank,” said another worker, wishing not to be named. “They should have treated right away. Unfortunately, that did not happen,” he said.

During a visit to different factories at the estate recently, this correspondent saw workers immersing rawhides in salt solutions and then soaking them in different chemicals.

Some of the labourers were barefooted and without gloves.

Tanners process rawhides inside a factory. The pictures were taken recently. Photo: Palash Khan

And although they work in such risky conditions, they are not properly compensated for injuries at work.

“The owners gave Tk 100,000 to Hashem's family and each of us got only Tk 25,000,” said Sumon, one of the four injured in the October 3 incident.

“We did not get any money after that,” said the worker, who had to stay at the DMCH for several days before being released.

Babul Hossain lost his right wrist in an accident at another factory in March 2017. He said he had to spend Tk 50,000 for treatment.

“At that time, my owner had promised to give me some money. But now, he does not even pick up any calls,” he said. 

This correspondent could not contact the factory owners for comments.

According to the labour law, if any worker becomes disabled due to injuries at work, he is entitled to Tk 250,000 in compensation from the employer.

According to media reports, six workers died and 30 suffered injuries in accidents at the tannery estate since the beginning of 2017, when the authorities started shifting the factories there.

There is no government data on this. Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, the designated government body, said they don't have “enough manpower” to keep records.

“There are many problems in the tanneries ... It is difficult for us to monitor the estate with limited manpower. We have plans to go for recruitments soon,” said Zakir Hossain, deputy inspector general at the DIFE.

Contacted, Mohiuddin Mahin, president of the Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather & Footwear Exporters Association (BFLLFEA), refused to provide any data on the matter. He asked this correspondent to approach the Tannery Workers' Union instead.

The union's president, Abul Kalam Azad, said, “We have representatives in only 30 factories. Sometimes we cannot keep track of all accidents.”

According to a recent study by Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation (Oshe Bangladesh), around 1.29 lakh workers are employed at the leather industry.

Most of the workers at the estate work on a daily basis, said Shakhawat Ullah, general secretary of the tanners' association.

Besides, a large number of workers have to travel from different areas, as the new estate has no housing facilities for them.

While inaugurating the estate on November 6 last year, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged the owners and authorities concerned to arrange housing facilities for tannery workers without any delay.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Tannery Workers Union and Bangladesh Tanners' Association stresses on creating housing and medical facilities and ensuring better wages, including provident fund, for the workers. BFLLFEA is a signatory of the MoU.

At present, a worker is entitled to a minimum of Tk 12,381 a month while a skilled worker can draw up to Tk 23,000, as per the MoU renewed in May last year.

Besides, a project official said the authorities were yet to keep fire extinguishers at the factories. A fire station is supposed to be set up inside the area before this June, when the project to relocate the tanneries would end.

Talking to The Daily Star, several tannery owners said Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation would build necessary facilities for the workers soon.

Contacted, Khandaker Aminuzzaman, general manager (planning) of the BSCIC, said they had already sought Tk 1,500 crore from the government to build hospitals, schools and other facilities at the estate.   

According to the Oshe's study, some 93 percent workers did not get any training. 61 percent of them frequently suffer from 20 kinds of health problems, including skin burns, body pain and itching, allergy, fever, ulcer, respiratory problems, blurred vision and headaches.

Oshe conducted the study on 105 workers, each having at least eight years' of work experience in the   sector.

Sarmin Sultana, lead researcher of the Oshe study team, said, “Lax enforcement and inspection and a lack of workers' knowledge in handling chemicals and machineries have a great impact on workers' health.”

Mohiuddin Ahmad Mahin, president of the Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather and Footwear Exporters Association, said, “We will soon take all necessary measures to guarantee workers' safety, implement the salary structure, and arrange housing facilities. We need cooperation from all relevant bodies in this regard.”