Roundtable discussion titled Fostering the Health and Wellness of our Workforce held in Dhaka

AYAT Education, in partnership with Integral Global and BGMEA, and supported by The John C. Martin (JCM) Foundation organised an interactive discussion on "Fostering the Health and Wellness of our Workforce" on September 20, 2023, at The Westin Dhaka. AYAT Education organised this roundtable to develop a collaborative roadmap for future initiatives in the industrial sector to ensure improved health and wellness of our workforce that directly connects with industry productivity, growth, and sustainability.

Nabil Ahmed, Founder and Director of Integral Global, presented a keynote presentation on the activities undertaken by AYAT Education and Integral Global in three textile and 6 RMG factories with almost 30,000 workers. Because of the health education and awareness campaigns, proper mask usage by facility employees improved by 51%, and proper hand washing practices by facility employees improved significantly.

Distinguished speakers from different industries shared their experiences on health and wellness initiatives that helped improve productivity, such as Spec-Techs, where employers conduct eye-screening campaigns, and are mandated to give them glasses and eye care support if they need them. More initiatives include focusing on financial well-being by providing financial support and access to loans and other discounts in hospitals.

"We need to democratise the initiatives taken by the organisations and reduce barriers to accessibility of health services of our workforce", said Tuomo Poutiainen, Country Director of International Labour Organization (ILO) Bangladesh. He also stated, "Many organisations have taken the initiatives for vaccination, health, hygiene, nutrition, ergonomics, eyecare, etc., which is well appreciated, and from ILO, we want to focus more on scalability and replicating these initiatives in other factories to ensure the wellness of our workforce."

Faruque Hassan, President of BGMEA and MD of Giant Group, also echoed the point made by ILO Country Director, saying that workers' health and wellness is BGMEA's top priority and we have seen major changes in the RMG sector recently because of different initiatives by BGMEA and RMG factories. He further added that as we navigate the challenges presented by communicable diseases, it is essential to equip our workforce with the necessary knowledge and strategies to safeguard themselves and improve productivity.

Charles Whiteley, Ambassador of the European Union (EU) delegation to Bangladesh said it is important to establish daycare centres which have proved to improve productivity in Europe. He also suggested the importance of collecting data on workers' health and wellness to inform evidence-based interventions.