The dataset provides observational information on events when humans are in contact with poultry in rural and urban Bangladesh. Data were collected during observation periods of three hours duration in three settings where humans and poultry have close interactions: rural households with domestic poultry and small-scale commercial farms in rural areas of Tangail district and market stalls that sell, slaughter and process live poultry in Dhaka city. Observations on hygiene or handwashing behaviours that take place before or after contact with poultry, poultry products (eggs, meat) or poultry waste (bedding, faeces or carcasses) were also recorded. A structured observation sheet was used to record the number of occurrences of pre-defined activities. The objective was to record the types of contact behaviours and proportion of human-poultry interactions that could result in human exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria carried by poultry. The research was part of a wider research project, Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Transmission from the Outdoor Environment to Humans in Urban and Rural Bangladesh. The research was funded by NERC/BBSRC/MRC on behalf of the Antimicrobial Resistance Cross-Council Initiative, award NE/N019555/1. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/76f52a38-7a2c-49a3-b86f-cc40205459ef