DHAKA, Dec 2, 2023 (BSS) - The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has announced its support for the Simon Project, a multi-stakeholder initiative led by the Simon Institute based in London, UK.

The Simon Project, jointly funded by Associated British Foods and the German Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ), aims to obtain recurrent data to calculate the ratio of non-fatal accidents in Bangladesh.

The launching of the Simon Project was held at BGMEA Complex in the capital on November 30 in the presence of Faruque Hassan, president of BGMEA, and Javier Chercoles PhD, director of Simon Institute. 

From BGMEA, senior vice president SM Mannan (Kochi), vice president Shahidullah Azim, directors Faisal Samad, Abdullah Hil Rakib, Navidul Huq and Rajiv Chowdhury were also present, said a press release today.

The Simon Project will implement an innovation site at BGMEA headquarters in Dhaka and IT tools in 9 BGMEA medical centres. 

This collaborative effort will engage both international and local forensic teams, including the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and Dhaka Medical College respectively to train paramedics and doctors to collect critical health incidence data for minor injuries, health issues and COVID-19 incidence.

This data will be essential to calculate the provision of insurance for all RMG workers which can be funded by private insurance companies and/or the public sector as well as calculating financial contribution from factories and international brands.

Since 2022, the Simon Project has already begun collecting data from 50 factories and has collected health incidence data for over 200,000 workers. Expansion of the project into the 9 medical centres of the BGMEA will allow for data collection of all more RMG workers in Bangladesh.

The Simon Project is complementary to the Employment Injury Scheme (EIS), supported by ILO and GIZ.

The Simon Project is collecting everyday-worker health issue data of which more than 5 million data sets are expected in one year. Both schemes are closely aligned with the BGMEA goal to provide social protection for all RMG workers in Bangladesh.