Poor implementation of the relevant compensation laws, corrupt labour leaders and attitude of the owners for compensating a victim make the situation even bleaker.

According to the Dhaka Medical Collage Hospital (DMCH) data, between August 1 and August 26, at least 50 persons were brought dead to the hospital in unnatural death cases and most of these bodies were of construction workers falling to their deaths from construction scafolding. Deaths and injuries resulting from electrocution are also quite common. The data also reveals that the number of injured workers is more than a hundred within this period.

Workers at the hospital morgue said that the number of the deceased or injured workers is more than recorded, as the hospital authority did not always record the cause of death or injury in the register.

On Thursday, Mohammad Jewel, and Keramat Ali, two construction workers fell down from a six-story building at Jatrabari. Mohammad Jewel died on the way to hospital and Keramat Ali was severely injured. The accident occurred when the workers were plastering the outer side of the building standing on a makeshift scaffolding. Relatives of Mohammad Jewel told Star City at the morgue that they had received Tk 5,500 for burial of the body at his village home. The relatives were not sure about any compensation for the death of the young man.

Not all the victims of construction site accidents come to DMCH for treatment, so the data produced by the hospital is revealing little of the high rate of fatality in the construction sector, said Kawsar Ali who is a construction contractor and brought an electrocuted construction worker to DMCH on Thursday.

After an accident the so-called labour leaders make most of the compensations, according to construction workers. The owners of the construction sites always fear labour unrest and tend to please the leaders.

During negotiation with the owners the labour leader embezzles the bulk of the money and offers little to the victims.

Azizur Rahman president of the Building Construction Workers Union told Star City on Saturday that they have to face threats and pressure from the owners while seeking compensations for a victim.

“When a serious accident occurs sometimes the local political leaders interfere in favour of the owners and try to negotiate a minimum amount for compensation, often embezzling bulk of the compensation," Rahman said.

Rahman admitted that labour leaders sometimes steal a part of the compensation but said that get at least some compensation tickles down to the poor victim. "If the accident remains unnoticed to the labour organisations, the owners readily decline responsibility.

Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) officials said that awareness among the workers and the developers over safety could prevent high rate of causalities in the construction field.

Rehab Vice President Mohammad Abdul Awal told Star City that for establishing a safe working environment in the construction sector, a code of conduct is coming soon for the owners and developers.

The workers are not accustomed to wearing helmets or shoes while working, even many of the workers are not aware of the danger of high voltage electrical cables overhead, he said.

Under such circumstances most developers are reluctant to introduce safety measures, which might increase the construction costs.

"Depriving the victims of construction accidents is an inhuman act. Unfortunately there is hardly any law to force the owners to maintain the relevant safety measures or have a mechanism for compensation." Awal said.