Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), International Labour Standards and Bangladesh Labour Laws were some of the other topics that were covered during the course. It also included areas such as the Bangladesh and global economy, government service rules, procedures, team work and office management.Launched in August 2015, the 40-day foundational training course for labour inspectors was developed by the Department of Inspections for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) and Bangladesh Institute of Administration and Management (BIAM) with the support of the ILO’s Improving Working Conditions in the Ready-made Garment Sector Programme funded by Canada, the Netherlands and the UK, as well as the ILO’s International Training Centre in Turin.

Speaking at a ceremony held at BIAM Mikail Shipar, secretary, ministry of labour and employment of Bangladesh said, “This course plays a major role in the Government of Bangladesh’s efforts to support the ongoing reform of the labour inspectorate so that it can effectively oversee workplace safety and worker rights.””By providing both newly recruited as well as more established staff a deep grounding in key areas this course has created a foundation of skilled inspectors upon which the labour inspectorate can further build its efforts to effectively carry out its mandate,” said ILO deputy director Gagan Rajbhandari.Held at BIAM, the training took place in six batches. Of the 239 inspectors trained, 53 were women while those who took part included newly recruited inspectors as well as more experienced colleagues. The course has been institutionalised into the DIFE reform roadmap and will become a standard training package for any new inspectors who join the labour inspectorate.ILO is working closely with DIFE to enhance the capacity of the labour inspectorate. In addition to supporting training activities, ILO is also helping develop improved labour inspection procedures and systems that will help DIFE carry out its role more effectively.