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Acta Scientific MEDICAL SCIENCES (ISSN: 2582-0931)
Volume 5 Issue 11 November 2021
Factors Associated with Work Safety of Domestic Helping Hands in Dhaka City, Bangladesh
Rubaiul Murshed1*, Rishad Choudhury Robin1, Mohammed Misbah
Uddin1 and Ahmed Mushtaque Raza Chowdhury2
1Shomman Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh
2BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
*Corresponding Author: Rubaiul Murshed, Shomman Foundation, Dhaka,
Bangladesh.
Research Article
Received: August 23, 2021
Published: October 04, 2021
© All rights are reserved by Rubaiul
Murshed., et al.
Abstract
Domestic Helping Hands are one of the most vulnerable and exploited groups among informal workers in Bangladesh and the
world. Considering their vulnerabilities, this cross-sectional study was carried out in Dhaka city to determine the factors associated
with the working environment and safety of the Domestic Helping Hands. In this study, a total of 300 samples were interviewed face-
to-face during 2017-2019 using a pre-coded structured survey questionnaire. The research found that 70.7% of respondents can not
avail themselves any weekend and do not get any treatment if they become sick, 39.3% are physically tortured, and 67.3% do not
out. There is solid evidence of a violation of the existing laws, and the respondents do not get any written contract for the services.
Therefore, the victims cannot take any legal measures for breach of the service rules and conditions. Establish a robust complaint
response mechanism with a dedicated helpline number, insurance policy, Domestic Helping Hand trade union, and institutionalizing
their services to shape them according to legal protection policies.
Keywords: Work Safety; Bangladesh; Domestic Helping Hand
Introduction
Bangladesh is a country with more than two million domestic
helping hands (DHHs). This is one of the biggest informal sectors
in the country. This work may comprise cleaning the house, cook-
ing, washing and ironing clothes, taking care of children or elderly
or sick family members, gardening, guarding the house, driv-
ing and even taking care of domestic pets. A DHH may work on a
full-time or part-time basis; may be employed by a single house-
hold or by multiple employers; may be residing in the employer's
household (live-in worker) or living in their residence (live-out).
A domestic worker may be working in a country of which they are
not a national [1]. In Bangladesh, many of them have migrated out
of poverty from the rural to urban areas and adopted this profes-
sion as a livelihood strategy [2]. Even though a sizable number of
men work in the sector (often as gardeners or drivers), it remains
a highly feminized sector, with about 80% of all domestic workers
being women. The International Labour Organization (ILO) says
workers [3]. It is estimated that there are currently about 67 mil-
lion domestic workers worldwide, excluding children [4]. Surpris-
ingly, most of the DHHs are vulnerable in their host households.
DHH usually works until midnight and often conducts drudgery
and challenging work in their host households for long hours with-
out recognition. Their dignity, fundamental human rights, nutrition
Citation: Rubaiul Murshed., et al. “Factors Associated with Work Safety of Domestic Helping Hands in Dhaka City, Bangladesh".
Sciences 5.11 (2021): 02-08.
and wages are often compromised. As they have limited opportuni-
ties, their employers, who are often the middle- and upper-class in
the society, capitalize on it. The employers do not recognize their
they do not get any leave during any festival period [1].
In Bangladesh, the phenomenon of child domestic workers is
widespread. There are almost two million domestic workers, of
which about a quarter are children. According to a Baseline survey,
approximately 400,000 Child Domestic Workers aged 6-17 years
in Bangladesh. This group of child workers is always cheap, invis-
ible, and a high-risk group for abuse and exploitation. A problem
for this informal sector is that it is always the adults who decide
on the fate of child domestic workers, and when the children are in
the employers’ household, they live under the overall control of the
employers. In these circumstances, the children have no opportuni-
ty to make their own choice or decision [5]. About one-third of do-
mestic helpers who work in Dhaka are children, are driven by pov-
erty and hunger as they have no one to look after them, the study
said [6]
child domestic workers. They do what their employer asks them to,
at any time of day or night. Other essential issues children trapped
in domestic child labor from a very young age are likely to have
domestic workers above the legal minimum age have a reduced
chance of continuing with education [7]. Sometimes, to escape the
persistent abuse and torture, many child domestic workers try to
run their employers' household. But these desperate, instead of
reaching their homes, children may haplessly die due to accidents
as their tools. Sometimes in the name of employing children, they
are taken away from their homes in rural areas to cities and get
immoral or illegal activities [8]. Here, child domestic workers are
grossly exploited. They do not have ways to ventilate their griev-
ances. They do not have any practical and effective legal process to
[9].
There is no monitoring system in the domestic worker protection
system. Domestic workers have no scope for complaint [10].
On the other hand, Hundreds of Bangladeshi women working
as domestic helpers in Saudi households have accused their em-
ployers of committing severe physical, mental and sexual abuses.
They face food and wage deprivation, physical torture and sexual
exploitation, among other abuses. Many of them have no means of
communication with outsiders as many of these girls and women
are kept isolated from the outside world by their Saudi employers.
Thousands of Bangladeshi female domestic workers have returned
from Saudi Arabia. There are cases where these girls came back
pregnant after suffering severe sexual abuse at the hands of their
male employers. Others have faced brutal physical torture, includ-
ing broken hands and other body parts [11].
The Government of Bangladesh had earlier promulgated an Or-
dinance for the registration of Domestic workers in some regions
of Bangladesh. This Ordinance does not touch any regulatory as-
pect and does not confer any rights or remedies to the domestic
workers [12].
On 21 December 2015, the Bangladesh government approved
the Domestic Workers’ Protection and Welfare Policy (DWPWP)
2015. The adoption of this policy is seen by many as a milestone in
achieving legal recognition for those in domestic service. The DW-
for the employers, the workers and the government [13]. Although
the Bangladesh Government approved (DWPWP) 2015 with a key
provision of registration and legal assistance for workers [14], its
enforcement remains an open question.
As the DHHs are primarily invisible in intellectual or media dis-
course, their safety and well-being have largely been ignored. This
research examines the factors associated with their work safety.
for at least six months on a full or part-time basis with verbal un-
derstanding in Dhaka city.
Methodology
A cross-sectional study design was followed in this research.
The data was collected over an extended period of time spanning
between October 2016 and September 2019. A multistage random
sampling method was used. Firstly, one of the two municipal cor-
porations under the City of Dhaka was randomly selected. Then
ten wards were chosen randomly from the Corporation’s 75 wards.
Based on a guesstimate, there are about 1,100 DHHs in these ten
words. Using Cochran’s formula, a sample size of 312 was included
for the study [15]. However, due to the decline of some respon-
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Factors Associated with Work Safety of Domestic Helping Hands in Dhaka City, Bangladesh
Citation: Rubaiul Murshed., et al. “Factors Associated with Work Safety of Domestic Helping Hands in Dhaka City, Bangladesh".
Sciences 5.11 (2021): 02-08.
selected through a systematic procedure following the inclusion
criteria. In households with more than one helping hand, one was
selected at random.
Data were collected using a close-ended questionnaire consist-
ing of four sections:
• Socio-demographics (gender, age, education, and marital
status)
• Work status (working pattern, working time and job satisfac-
tion)
• Health status (feeling of fatigue and receipt of treatment).
• Work Safety (use of proper utensils to carry hot water, buck-
ets and availability of proper cleaning equipment while
cleaning rooms, toilets, and stairs)
Although informed consent was obtained from all respondents
before the interview, securing permission from their employers
was one of the most challenging tasks during data collection. Six
interviewers, three males and three females, carried out the data
collection. The interviewers were trained on the questionnaire and
the data collection process by the principal researcher (RM).
The content validity of the questionnaire was determined by
item objective congruence (IOC). Three experts examined the ques-
tionnaire item-by-item. Only Items with IOC index of > 0.5 were re-
tained. A prior pilot survey conducted on 30 helping hands helped
to modify the questionnaire.
The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 for Windows.
Descriptive statistics were generated to describe basic socio-de-
mographic characteristics. Chi-square tests were used for the uni-
variate analyses to determine the relationship between the study
outcome and other demographic characteristics. Finally, a binary
logistic regression was used for the multivariate analyses to inves-
tigate factors associated with the research outcome. The odds ra-
presented for all variables. Unless otherwise stated, p-values and
CIs were set at <0.05 and 95%, respectively.
Results
Table 1 shows the different socio-demographic characteristics
of the helping hands. A vast majority of the respondents were fe-
male (92%). Thirty nine percent of them were aged 20 years or
over, and 11% were children under 12 years of age. Sixty percent
were unmarried and most (86%) had completed primary school-
month, while a third reported a monthly payment of Tk 5000 or
more. The table also presents the self-perceived feeling of ‘safety’
by the respondents in their respective places of work according
to different characteristics. A large majority of the female helping
hands felt unsafe (72.2%). Safety decreased with decreasing age.
Single respondents felt more unsafe than those married or wid-
owed. Education did not appear to have any particular role in the
safety situation as most respondents who read up to primary level
felt that they were ‘unsafe’ and a vast majority of those who did not
have any schooling felt ‘safe’. Monthly income seemed to be a good
predictor of work safety. Statistically, gender, marital status, educa-
Table 2 gives further information on the sample helping hands.
A majority of the helping hands were part-timers (65.6%). Almost
-
ed that they were not given their salary on time. More than a half
of them worked for four to seven hours (as majorities were part-
percent reported having been undeservedly scolded or mistreated.
-
saulted. Less than 30% reported getting a weekly day-off, and only
17% received festival holidays. Fortunately, almost all reported re-
ceiving annual holidays. As a gross violation of human rights, three-
quarters of the helping hands were reported to have been locked in
from outside while their employers went out.
Most of them started working after they were 14 years or older
(72.7%), and 55.3% of respondents worked 4-7 hours per day. The
research found that 95.3% of respondents experienced rude be-
haviors, with 39.3% being beaten. Only 29.3% enjoyed a weekly
day-off, and 17.3% enjoyed festival holidays. As a violation of the
‘Domestic Worker Rights 2015’, 91.3% did not receive any signed
contract before starting work (Table 2).
Our research also found that 92% of helping hands considered
their work as physically challenging and 68.7% felt fatigued most
of the time. Moreover, 71.3% had to work while being sick where-
04
Factors Associated with Work Safety of Domestic Helping Hands in Dhaka City, Bangladesh
Citation: Rubaiul Murshed., et al. “Factors Associated with Work Safety of Domestic Helping Hands in Dhaka City, Bangladesh".
Sciences 5.11 (2021): 02-08.
Characteristics Number (%) Feeling safe at work
n (%)
Feeling unsafe at work
n (%) P-value
Gender .0002
Female 276 (92.0) 76 (27.5) 200 (72.5)
Male 24 (8.0) 22 (91.6) 2 (8.4)
Age (Years) .1411
Not known 60 (20.0) 22 (36.6) 38 (63.4)
Under 12 34 (11.3) 6 (17.6) 28 (82.4)
13 to 19 88 (29.3) 26 (29.5) 62 (70.5)
20 + 118 (39.3) 44 (37.3) 74 (62.7)
Marital status .0001
Single 180 (60.0) 40 (22.2) 140 (77.8)
Married 54 (18.0) 34 (62.9) 20 (37.1)
Divorce 12(4.0) 4 (33.3) 8 (66.7)
Widow 54(18.0) 20 (37.0) 34 (73.0)
Education .0001
No formal schooling 34 (2.7) 30 (88.2) 4 (11.8)
Completed primary schooling 258 (86.0) 64 (24.8) 194 (75.2)
Completed high schooling 8 (11.3) 4 (50.0) 4 (50.0)
Monthly income (Taka) .0001
Less than 1000 32 (10.7) 0 (0.0) 32 (100.0)
1000-3000 76 (25.3) 2 (2.6) 74 (97.4)
3001-5000 94 (31.3) 14 (14.9) 80 (85.1)
More than 5000
Total
98 (32.7)
300 (100.0)
82 (83.6)
98 (32.6)
16 (16.4)
202 (67.4)
Table 1: Socio-demographic characteristics of the sample helping hands and their self-perceived feeling of ‘safety’ (n = 300).
1P-values from Chi-square tests; 2 p-values from Fisher’s exact test; BDT: Bangladeshi Taka.
Characteristics n (%)
Working pattern
Part-time 197 (65.6)
Full-time 103 (34.4)
Work Type
Domestic Worker 295 (98.33)
Personal Driver 5 (1.6)
Job satisfaction
Yes 18 (6.0)
No 290 (94.0)
Characteristics n (%)
Salary on time
Yes 98 (32.7)
No 202 (67.3)
Starting age of working (Years)
Below 14 82 (27.3)
Above 14 218 (72.7)
Duration of working hour
4-7 166 (55.3)
8-9 26 (8.7)
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Factors Associated with Work Safety of Domestic Helping Hands in Dhaka City, Bangladesh
Citation: Rubaiul Murshed., et al. “Factors Associated with Work Safety of Domestic Helping Hands in Dhaka City, Bangladesh".
Sciences 5.11 (2021): 02-08.
Characteristics n (%)
10-11 44 (14.7)
12+ 64 (21.3)
Undeservedly scolded or treated
roughly
Yes 286 (95.3)
No 14 (4.7)
Physically assaulted
Yes 118 (39.3)
No 182 (60.7)
Full day off during the week
Yes 88 (29.3)
No 212 (70.7)
Getting annual leaves
Yes 282 (94.0)
No 18 (6.0)
Getting festive holidays
Yes 52 (17.3)
No 248 (82.7)
Getting need based holidays
Yes 190 (63.3)
No 110 (36.7)
Locking of the main gate while
staying alone
Yes 222 (74.0)
No 78 (26.0)
Written consent before starting
work
Yes 26 (8.7)
No 274(91.3)
Table 2: Working situation of the sample helping hands (n = 300).
as, and 29.3% got treatment facilities provided by their employers
while they were sick (Table 3).
Univariate and multivariate analysis of data found that being
female (OR 0.016, 95% CI 0.002-0.157), suffering from any diseas-
es (OR 0.187, 95% CI 0.052-0.670) and, getting salary timely (OR
0.265, 95% 0.104-0.678) were found protective factors whereas,
working as a helping hand is physically hard (OR 4.595, 95% CI
1.680-12.569), locking of the main gate while staying alone (OR
4.595, 95% CI 1.680-12.569) and the number of household work
Characteristics n (%)
Is working as a helping hand physically
hard?
Yes 276(92.0)
No 24 (8.0)
Felt fatigued most of the time?
Yes 206 (68.7)
No 94 (31.3)
Needed to work while being sick?
Yes 214 (71.3)
No 86 (28.7)
Got treatment arranged by employers?
Yes 88 (29.3)
No 212 (70.7)
Got help while being sick?
Financial 20 (6.7)
Leave 218 (72.7)
No help 62 (20.7)
Table 3: Opinion of sample helping hands-on selected health and
wellbeing issues (n = 300).
for (OR 4.667, 95% CI 1.567-13.900) were found as potential risk
factors concerning the work safety (Table 4).
Discussion
In Bangladesh, information on the condition of the domestic
helping hands (DHH) is scarce. Research focusing on their work
safety is scarcer. This research tried to gather some preliminary
information on the condition of a particular group of DHHs living
in Dhaka city. Collecting such information is always challenging as
the potential respondents are part of an invisible group of the labor
-
sible. From this perspective, this is a pioneering research effort.
Our research indicated that most of the helping hands we
reached out to were female, single, and completed primary educa-
tion. An ILO report in 2019 also found that in Bangladesh, a majori-
ty of helping hands were female. The ILO report found most of them
to be married and illiterate, who tend to differ from our research
[9]. The difference is perhaps due to the fact that our research was
only conducted in Dhaka city whereas the report from ILO repre-
06
Factors Associated with Work Safety of Domestic Helping Hands in Dhaka City, Bangladesh
Citation: Rubaiul Murshed., et al. “Factors Associated with Work Safety of Domestic Helping Hands in Dhaka City, Bangladesh".
Sciences 5.11 (2021): 02-08.
sented the whole of Bangladesh. Our research also showed the ma-
jority of the helping hands worked 4 to 8 hours daily and almost all
were undeservedly scolded or mistreated (95%). Forty percent of
the helping hands were physically abused or assaulted by their em-
ployers. Such results are close to what was reported by the Inter-
national Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF), which mentioned
the mean working time to be 10.73 hours and 83% and 47% were
treated roughly or physically abused/assaulted, respectively.
Our research found that only one-third of the helping hands
were getting treatment while being sick. Fortunately, they obtained
leave without being terminated from work when sick. Getting a
our research also found the same [16,17]. The work of domestic
workers sometimes leads to different kinds of accidents, including
burns. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 80–
90% of burns in Bangladesh and Ethiopia originate from house-
hold kitchens [18]. In Bangladesh, there is a common practice to
lock in the helping hands [19]. Such a practice is humiliating and
a gross violation of human rights which, in some cases, leads to
suicide [20].
Conclusion
The study concludes that Domestic Helping Hands in Dhaka
city live vulnerable lives with little safety in their working place,
education, treatment, mobility, rest, and leave. The main reasons
for their vulnerabilities are not limited to lack of respective author-
ity, lack of alternative opportunities, and lack of awareness among
host family members. Therefore, appropriate measures are needed
to improve the work safety of helping hands such as Complaint Re-
sponse Mechanism (CRM), Insurance policy, DHH association, and
Legal policy.
interest with respect to this research, authorship and/or publica-
tion of this article.
07
Factors Associated with Work Safety of Domestic Helping Hands in Dhaka City, Bangladesh
Citation: Rubaiul Murshed., et al. “Factors Associated with Work Safety of Domestic Helping Hands in Dhaka City, Bangladesh".
Sciences 5.11 (2021): 02-08.
Variables Unadjusted Adjusted
OR (95%CI) P-value OR (95%CI) P-value
Gender
Female Reference
Male .035 (.008-.150) .000 .016 (.002-.157) .000
Working as a helping hand is physically hard
No Reference
Yes 7.350 (2.815-19.193) .000 8.263 (1.446-47.220) .018
Suffering from any diseases during working period
No Reference
Yes 4.198 (2.128-8.283) .000 .187 (.052-.670) .010
Locking of the main gate while staying alone
No Reference
Yes 9.102 (5.080-16.309) .000 4.595 (1.680-12.569) .003
Number of household work for
1 Reference
2-3 2.413 (1.421-4.098) .001 4.667 (1.567-13.900) .006
Salary on time
No Reference
Yes .147 (.086-.251) .000 .265 (.104-.678) .006
Table 4:
Funding
No funding.
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Volume 5 Issue 11 November 2021
© All rights are reserved by Rubaiul Murshed., et al.
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Factors Associated with Work Safety of Domestic Helping Hands in Dhaka City, Bangladesh
Citation: Rubaiul Murshed., et al. “Factors Associated with Work Safety of Domestic Helping Hands in Dhaka City, Bangladesh".
Sciences 5.11 (2021): 02-08.
