14 tanners lauded for improving health, safety standards

Fourteen tanneries inside the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate have significantly improved their health and safety management systems, according to an assessment by SGS Bangladesh Limited, the Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) and Asia Foundation.

Eight of the companies were awarded crests for showing the most improvement while the rest were given certificates through an event held at The Daily Star Centre in Dhaka yesterday.

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This assessment was conducted to improve the occupational health and safety standards at 15 of the 160 tanneries under the estate, according to the Asia Foundation.

The survey, styled "ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems", completed its one-year run-time in March earlier this year.

The goal of this assessment was to improve health and safety standards in the workplace by eliminating or minimising risks in this regard.

The ISO 45001:2018 specifies requirements for health and safety management systems while also providing guidance on implement them, enabling organisations better prevent workplace injuries and illness.

The goal of this assessment was to improve health and safety standards in the workplace by eliminating or minimising risks in this regard

The 14 tanners are: MS Salma Tannery, Anjuman Trading Corporation, MS RK Leather Complex, ABS Tannery, The Comilla Tannery, Samata Leather Complex, Marsons Tannery, Ayub Brothers Tannery, MS Saiful Islam Tannery, Arafat Leather Complex, MS Sadar Tannery, Khokon Tannery, Bengal Pelli Export Company and MS Salma Leather Corporation.

The eight companies that were specially recognised are: MS Salma Tannery, Anjuman Trading Corporation, MS RK Leather Complex, ABS Tannery, The Comilla Tannery, Samata Leather Complex, Marsons Tannery and Ayub Brothers Tannery.

Taherul Islam, programme manager of the Asia Foundation, said they first checked for gaps in the health and safety management systems of these factories before working on how to improve them.

"By the year's end, these companies showed good improvement, which is a pretty good thing," he added.

Islam then‍ said that he hopes these companies will continue maintaining higher health and safety standards in the years to come now that the project is over.

Sadat S Shibli, director of the Asia Foundation, said ensuring compliance with such measures is more important than ever these days.

"There is no way to improve the country's export earnings without maintaining international standards in the leather sector," he added.

Islam went on to say that the leather sector is the higher export earner for Bangladesh after garments.

Rehena Akhter Ruma, head of projects and programmes at the BTA, said some of the tanneries surveyed did not know much about their compliance issues and ended up learning a lot through the project.

A lack of compliance in the country's leather sector has been preventing the expansion of its foothold in the international market even though the required raw materials are easily available.

As a result, exporters are getting 30 to 40 per cent lower prices for their products compared to those of competing nations.

Besides, fair prices cannot be ensured in local markets either as Bangladesh has not gained certification from the Leather Working Group, a global body for compliance and environmental certification in the leather and leather goods sector.