APRIL 28TH--WORLD DAY FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK

 

EMPLOYED IN HELL

I see them everyday; Masons mixing cement and sand with their bare hands, Old women sweeping the roads every morning bathing the dust and inhaling it, like it was some sweet perfume. . .we really need to survey the conditions we work in, whether on the streets or behind the Counter in AC chilled banks; because most of these conditions are not human.

The eight-storey building collapse in Dhaka few days ago only magnified the already serious issue of unsafe work environments all around the world.

About 400 people got killed, many people injured, and many many more still missing. The eight-storey building used to be a factory that makes ready-made clothes ready for exportation. Bangledesh is the second biggest exporter of ready-made clothing in the world, only behind China.

That's huge success if you ask me, But should that success come at the expense of people's lives?? And it's not just Bangledesh. All around the world we've lost sight of the most important thing.

It's not bad to work. In fact, every reasonable human beign knows he/she needs to work to earn--It's more honourable than cheating or bombing people for amnesty--but when we begin to put Profit before lives, that's where we miss it.

Concerning the eight-storey building collapse, reports have it that the employees complained few days before the collapse that they saw cracks on the wall of the factory building. Yet, the owner of the building did'nt take any action. Maybe if action was taken those souls would have been saved, and many families would'nt be in so much pain as they are now. Employees need to understand that it is their right to ask for a safe and healthy Working environment. Because in the end, nothing can buy the human life.

Ebenezar Wikina
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