Traffic Safety Perception of Ready-Made Garment Workers in Bangladesh

Abstract

Pedestrian injuries are now a major safety issue all over the world, especially in developing countries such as, Bangladesh. However, the country is heavily dependent on its Ready- made Garment Workers’ (RMG) industry which is the greatest source of generating foreign currency, mass employment and a gateway to socio-economic development. Majority of the garments workers choose walking as their mode of transport and thus are categorized as pedestrian. Consequently, this particular group is under safety threat considered as the most vulnerable among all road users. To handle this problem, improving traffic safety education for RMG workers’ may be a solution. On response to the problem, this study aims to explore garments workers’ traffic safety perception and the factors associated with it. In the arena of acquiring knowledge, safety education governs a dynamic role in influencing the approaches and behaviors of pedestrians. So, for strengthening road safety education, it requires to grab knowledge from diversified sources. To explore the safety perception and education source of RMG workers, a questionnaire survey was conducted among RMG workers at most prominent road accident zones. Multiple Linear regression model was applied for analyzing the perception factor that may affect the behavioral characteristics of garment workers. Results showed that risk perception varied significantly with the worker’s age, income group, marital status, number of children, mode of transport, average weekly walk duration, educational qualification, previous accident experience (active and passive). In addition, for the development of safety educational source among the vulnerable pedestrians, logistic regression model was used. The result illustrates that factors based on worker’s age, marital status, lower income group, public transport user, having no physical disability, weekly walking duration from house to workplace, home distance, having living experience inside the urban area, transport cost has significant influence on safety education source of the RMG workers. The purpose of making two studies is to identify a vulnerable group to whom the training is more prioritized and beneficial and require attention for improving their safety perception.