Pic: Ethical Trading Initiative
UK-based Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) is partnering with digital training supplier Quizrr to support 20 garment factories in Bangladesh to operate in a COVID-safe way. The initiative is being funded by the Vulnerable Supply Chain Facility (VSCF), a rapid COVID-19 response fund set up by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
While factories have been open for several months and workers have returned to work, the risk of infection remains a major threat and the importance of prioritising workplace adaptation, worker safety and understanding among workers, managers and supervisors alike of the steps they need to take to protect themselves remains high, EIT said in a press release.
The facility has partnered with 20 UK and international retailers and brands, supporting over 100 suppliers across Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Myanmar, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, and will provide economic, social, and health benefits to around a million women and men directly and indirectly.
The initiative will trial a strong Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) component in 20 garment factories in Bangladesh nominated by seven ETI brand members—Primark, New Look, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Dimensions and Arco.
The project will combine traditional, classroom-based training with innovative, tablet-based modules developed by training partner Quizrr, and aims to reach 30,000 workers and 1,000supervisors and managers in selected factories in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
ETI and Quizrr have been collaborating since 2015 on an ongoing intervention to pilot a Social Dialogue programme to garment factories in Bangladesh.
The programme uses blended learning—a combination of ETI’s traditional classroom teaching with Quizrr’s tablet-based, digital media approach—to deliver awareness raising training to factory managers, supervisors and Participation Committee worker representatives.
In addition to the support received from UKAid, the Social Dialogue programme is currently co-funded by the Norwegian Government’s development agency NORAD and the corporate donor HSBC.
A recent evaluation of this intervention has found many positive benefits, including increased awareness among worker representatives of their rights and responsibilities in the workplace, better industrial relations, and improved attitudes toward cooperative and collaborative relations between workers and managers, the press release said.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
UK-based Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) is partnering with digital training supplier Quizrr to support 20 garment factories in Bangladesh to operate in a COVID-safe way. The initiative is being funded by the Vulnerable Supply Chain Facility (VSCF), a rapid COVID-19 response fund set up by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).