ILO & US’ Nike partner to launch new initiative for garment workers


A new initiative to cut deaths and injuries among garment and footwear workers has been launched by the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Vision Zero Fund and Nike Inc. The joint initiative aims to understand why garment and footwear workers are vulnerable to injuries and deaths resulting from commuting accidents and to lessen the adverse impact on workers, their families, and the sector as a whole.

The goal is to work together to develop a common, standardised approach to reducing these accidents that can be adapted and replicated in different contexts, ILO and Nike said in a media release.

A new initiative to cut deaths and injuries among garment and footwear workers has been launched by the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Vision Zero Fund and Nike Inc. The joint initiative aims to understand why garment and footwear workers are vulnerable to injuries and deaths resulting from commuting accidents and to lessen the adverse impact.

According to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 1.3 million people are killed and up to 50 million people are injured worldwide on roads every year. Commercial vehicles are involved in approximately 10 to 22 per cent of all road crashes globally. Garment and footwear sector workers are disproportionately involved in road accidents in many countries. The reasons behind this include commuting long distances, using less safe forms of transport such as motorcycles, walking to work, and sharing roads with heavy commercial vehicles.

The project’s approach includes creating a Theory of Change (TOC) on road safety for garment workers, which has been put together after consultations with workers, employers, governments and ILO specialists in several countries. The partnership will also develop practical, easy-to-use guidance materials on commuting safety, which will be piloted by the Fund and Nike in a country where contract manufacturing facilities produce Nike products.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)




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