Methodology

This report is based on information collected during eight weeks of field research conducted in Bangladesh between January and May 2012. In the course of this research, Human Rights Watch visited eight tanneries.

A senior researcher with Human Rights Watch interviewed 134 people for this report, including 53 people who currently work, or previously had worked, in Hazaribagh tanneries. Of these, 49 were workers currently employed in tanneries and four were former tannery workers. Human Rights Watch also spoke to six people who were currently working in Hazaribagh factories processing tannery waste products (although not involved in directly processing leather). While their evidence was similar to those working in tanneries, it has not been included in this report, which is focused on Hazaribagh’s leather tanneries.

Of the 53 worker interviewees, 9 were adult women and 10 were children (i.e. under the age of 18)—5 of whom were boys and 5 of whom were girls.

Human Rights Watch also spoke to 20 residents of slums in Hazaribagh (5 residents from each of 4 different locations). Of the 20 residents interviewed in the course of this research, 13 were women.

All residents and workers interviewed provided verbal informed consent to participate and were assured that they could end the interview at any time or decline to answer any questions. Interviewees who are residents or workers have been given pseudonyms and in some cases other identifying information has been withheld to protect confidentiality.

Human Rights Watch also spoke to an additional 42 people familiar with the tannery industry in Bangladesh, including healthcare professionals, staff of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), staff of international organizations, trade union officials, academic researchers, journalists, representatives of tannery associations, leather technologists, and chemical suppliers.

Secondary sources—including academic research, project reports, and media coverage—were reviewed and included to corroborate information from residents or tannery workers. This report includes a number of secondary sources from the 1990s: these were deliberately chosen to show the length of time for which these issues have been publicly discussed. More recent research supports the findings of this earlier research and is also included in this report. Bangladeshi laws and policies were also reviewed.

Human Rights Watch spoke to 13 government officials (4 from the Department of Environment, 4 from the Ministry of Labour and Employment, 2 from the Ministry of Industries, 2 from the government’s National Institute for Cancer Research and Hospital, and the member of parliament for Hazaribagh).

Human Rights Watch did not seek to interview all tannery owners in Hazaribagh due to time concerns. In June 2012, Human Rights Watch requested meetings with the managing directors of two Hazaribagh tanneries. Senior staff at both tanneries replied that a meeting was not possible because the relevant directors were busy and/or travelling.

In July 2012, Human Rights Watch wrote to the minister of environment and forests, the minister of industries, and the minister of labour and employment to request information on the tanneries in Hazaribagh and to solicit response to the issues documented in this report. This correspondence is attached at Annex 1. No reply had been received as this report went to publication.