Safe jobs do not automatically mean safe workers, because a major safety factor is the way to work. If this is unsafe or happens in overcrowded or undriveable vehicles, accidents and absenteeism can increase. A new initiative by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and Nike Inc. has therefore set itself the goal of reducing the number of deaths and injuries during the transport of garment and shoe workers.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 1.3 million people are killed and up to 50 million injured on roads worldwide every year. Commercial vehicles are involved in around 10 to 22 percent of all traffic accidents worldwide.
In many countries, workers in the garment and footwear sector are disproportionately involved in traffic accidents, partly because they commute long distances, use less safe modes of transport such as motorbikes, walk to work or share roads with heavy goods vehicles.
Vision Zero Fund wants to make commuting safer
The joint Vision Zero Fund therefore aims to understand why exactly workers in the garment and footwear industry are so vulnerable to injuries and deaths resulting from transport accidents. He also wants to reduce the negative impact on workers, their families and the sector as a whole. The aim is to jointly develop a standardized approach to reducing these accidents, which can be adapted and implemented in different contexts.
“Existing laws and enforcement mechanisms often focus on drivers, which falls short when it comes to providing sustainable solutions. That’s why we’re excited about the partnership with Nike. It gives us the opportunity, in collaboration with the ILO’s Better Factories Cambodia, to identify the causes, beyond drivers, that need to be addressed in order to reduce road accident injuries and fatalities, and together a more powerful and standardized approach to reducing transport accidents in the apparel industry supply chain,” comments Ockert Dupper, Global Program Manager of the Vision Zero Fund.
The project’s approach therefore involves the production of a ‘Theory of Change’ (TOC) on road safety for garment workers, drawn up after consultation with workers, employers, governments and ILO professionals in a number of countries.
It aims to shed light on the most common causes of traffic accidents and, within the framework of the partnership, to develop practical, easy-to-use guidelines for safety in commuter traffic. These are to be tested in a country where Nike has its products manufactured.
“At Nike, we know that a world-class supply chain is built on standards that show respect for the people who make and ship our products, and on the principles of a healthy and safe workplace. With this joint road safety initiative, we aim to expand our collaboration with the Vision Zero Fund, which we believe will help Nike’s manufacturing operations lead in safety throughout the supply chain and beyond,” said Sittichoke Huckuntod, Director for health and safety at Nike.