DHAKA (ILO News) – The ILO has signed new agreements with two leading apparel associations in Bangladesh to continue its ongoing work on improving working conditions in the country.
Implementation agreements to strengthen the capacity of Safety Committees were signed with Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on 23 January 2022 and with Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) on 9 January 2022.
The labour law in Bangladesh makes it mandatory for all organizations with 50 or more employees to establish Safety Committees comprising of an equal number of representatives from workers and employers. Safety Committees are tasked to implement, monitor and communicate on safety issues at workplaces.
Under the deals inked with BGMEA and BKMEA, 1000 Safety Committee members from 125 garment factories will be trained on occupational safety and health (OSH), hazard identification and risk assessment, building safety culture, management of fire accidents and COVID-19 guidelines.
“These upskilled Safety Committee members will in turn spread the awareness among about 50,000 workers in their respective factories”, said Tuomo Poutiainen, Country Director of ILO Bangladesh.
The ILO’s Improving Working Conditions in the Ready-Made Garment Sector programme funded by Canada, Netherlands and United Kingdom is working to improve occupational safety and health at both policy and enterprise levels.
Chief Technical Advisor of the programme, George Faller said, “Safety Committees bring together management and workers to help create and maintain safe and healthy working environment”. He added, “These committees will prevent many workplace accidents and diseases once they are equipped with proper skills and tools, and allowed to function as per the law.”
“Building the skills of Safety Committees will make our factories safer and more productive which will benefit the national economy,” said Monsoor Ahmed, Senior Vice President of BKMEA.
President of BGMEA, Faruque Hassan said, “The safety of our workers is our priority. Hence, we joined hands with the ILO to invest in strong and functional safety committees which will help our industry to overcome the safety and health crisis posed by the pandemic and mitigate other occupational risks.”
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ILO has trained more than 1700 worker and management representatives from 443 garment factories on COVID-19 mitigation measures. Additionally, over 2000 worker and management representatives from 555 BGMEA and BKMEA factories received ILO training on “return to work occupational safety and health” after the factories had reopened.