International Labor Organization’s Vision Zero Fund and Nike Inc have collaborated to launch a new initiative to cut deaths and injuries among garment and footwear workers.

The joint initiative aims to understand the reasons behind the vulnerability of garment and footwear workers to injuries and deaths resulting from commuting accidents, and lessen the adverse impact on workers, their families, and the sector as a whole. It aims tocollaborate for launching a common, standardized approach to reducing these accidents that can be adapted and replicated in different contexts.

According to data from the Organization 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 a number of countries.

The Theory Of Change aims to throw light on the underlying causes of road accidents involving garment and footwear workers. 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.