The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has expressed its endorsement for the Simon Project, an initiative led by the Simon Institute in London, UK, and jointly funded by Associated British Foods and the German Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ). This project aims to gather recurring data to calculate the ratio of non-fatal accidents in Bangladesh.
The launch of the Simon Project took place at the BGMEA Complex in Dhaka, with the presence of Faruque Hassan, BGMEA President, and Javier Chercoles PhD, Director of Simon Institute. BGMEA Senior Vice President S. M. Mannan (Kochi), Vice President Shahidullah Azim, Directors Faisal Samad, Abdullah Hil Rakib, Navidul Huq, and Rajiv Chowdhury were also in attendance.
The Simon Project will establish an innovation site at the BGMEA headquarters in Dhaka and implement IT tools in 9 BGMEA medical centers. This collaborative effort will involve international and local forensic teams, including the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and Dhaka Medical College, to train paramedics and doctors for collecting critical health incidence data related to minor injuries, health issues, and Covid incidence.
This data will play a crucial role in calculating insurance provisions for all RMG (Ready-Made Garment) workers, which can be funded by private insurance companies and/or the public sector. It will also aid in determining financial contributions from factories and international brands.
The Simon Project, initiated in 2022, has already started collecting data from 50 factories, gathering health incidence data for over 200,000 workers. Expanding the project to the 9 medical centers of the BGMEA will enable data collection for all RMG workers in Bangladesh. This project aligns with the BGMEA’s goal of providing social protection for all RMG workers and is complementary to the Employment Injury Scheme (EIS) supported by the ILO and GIZ.
