ABOUT US
Present in 13 countries across three continents, Better Work brings together governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, global brands, factory owners and workers to improve working conditions in the garment industry and make the sector more competitive.
- THE PROGRAMME
- GOVERNANCE
- OUR TEAM
- OUR PARTNERS
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WHAT WE DO
Better Work engages with the garment industry at the factory, national and international levels. We engage with factories through assessment, advisory and training visits, and we use our data and evidence to inform national and international policy discussions.
GET INVOLVED
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WHERE WE WORK
Better Work began in Cambodia over 20 years ago. Since then, we have expanded to 13 country programmes, with opportunities for further expansion - to new countries and new industries - on the horizon.
- COUNTRY PROGRAMMES
- THEMATIC INTERVENTIONS
  - Madagascar
  - Sri Lanka
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OUR EVIDENCE
Better Work collects data from factory assessment and advisory visits, and we work with reputable, independent academic researchers who report findings on the efficacy of our work and trends in the broader industry.
GET INVOLVED
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Occupational Safety and Health

Rising to the sector’s challenges through a multi-level approach

More than four per cent of the world’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) is lost because of work-related injuries and diseases, according to the ILO.

In the garment and textile sector, the generation of chemical waste, extreme heat, air pollution and flooding as well as the reduced availability of water exacerbate occupational safety and health (OSH) risks. These challenges also lead to negative economic consequences, increasing the damaging effects of unsafe work environments on human health and wellbeing.

Strong OSH systems were the bedrock of Better Work’s global pandemic response. Investment in OSH is crucial to protecting workers and their families and to ensuring the continuity of enterprises and avoiding supply chain disruptions.

Better Work’s core objectives for OSH are to promote a culture of health and safety in the world of work and to prevent serious risks, accidents, illnesses and fatalities through stronger national and enterprise systems and collective action and ownership.

In 2022, a safe and healthy working environment was recognised by the ILO as one of the fundamental principles and rights at work. Along with the other fundamental principles and rights at work (freedom of association and the effective right to collective bargaining; the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour; the effective abolition of child labour; and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation), ILO member states are called upon to respect, promote and realize the fundamental principles and rights at work, regardless of whether they have ratified the ILO conventions in which they are enshrined.

Better Work is strengthening its approach to OSH, scaling up its factory engagement, and putting an enhanced targeted focus on the underlying causes of persistent and structural compliance failings.

Better Work’s Impact on OSH

Better Work has demonstrated that improved working conditions, including those related to workplace safety and health, are correlated with higher worker productivity. When workers reported better OSH environments, they reached daily production targets up to 40 minutes faster than otherwise similar counterparts.

Better Work's positive effects on OSH increase in parallel with years of participation

In addition to the targeted actions required to face and overcome challenging situations like the COVID-19 pandemic, Better Work has a long standing history of working on different dimensions of OSH across its country programmes. Studies have shown how the programme’s positive effects on OSH significantly increase in parallel with years of participation.

In Jordan, the proportion of workers who report that accidents or injuries were a concern for themselves or their colleagues decreased by 32 percentage points, following six years of participation in the programme.

At participating factories in Nicaragua, the frequency of work-related injuries were shown to decline after three years of participation in the Better Work programme. Workers in Nicaragua also expressed fewer concerns with excessive temperatures, dangerous equipment, accidents and poor air quality.

Nearly eight in ten workers across all factories enrolled in Better Work are women. Better Work has expanded access to pregnancy-related healthcare, a vital service for many young women working long hours in the garment sector.

In Haiti, only six per cent of female workers reported having access to prenatal check-ups at the outset of the programme. This increased to 26 per cent after five years. In Viet Nam, Better Work’s impact in improving prenatal care was apparent within the first two years of participation in the programme.

Better Work Action Plan

Better Work’s OSH Action Plan is responsive and designed to evolve over the lifetime of our strategy, Sustaining Impact, 2022/27. In consultation with global and national partners, we will continue to refine our action plans to ensure they support long-term, progressive change. To achieve a culture of health and safety in the world of work, we:

1Establish and strengthen OSH management systems and a culture of safety and health in the factory and beyond

Better Work will deepen its focus on OSH management systems and behavioural change. This includes targeted actions to boost dorm safety where migrant workers reside, road safety during the workers’ commutes and the eradication of violence and harassment from the factory floor in line with the OSH Code of Practice for Textiles, Clothing, Leather and Footwear and ILO Convention No. 190.

2Apply robust technical interventions for salient risks by establishing a network of OSH experts within Better Work and the ILO and externally

To identify pragmatic and robust solutions to persistent non-compliance areas, embedded in management systems and change management processes. Working with key ILO units, Better Work will contribute to an OSH toolkit to support implementation of the ILO OSH Code of Practice. The interventions are designed to help build capacity within the sector to use the Code and address key risks including the ever-mounting OSH risks of chemicals and waste management, as well as violence and harassment in the context of OSH.

3Bolster and support national OSH systems and action plans

Better Work will support policy reform and the implementation of national OSH action plans by supporting other ILO units to strengthen national ministries of labour, departments of OSH or other institutions through broadly sharing its data, experience and expertise for capacity building.

4Convene industry stakeholders around data and evidence

Leverage partnerships with brands, the ILO, and other experts to identify the root causes of OSH non-compliance and tackle these issues collectively and holistically. Better Work collaborates closely with ILO other specialists to engage in initiatives, including with the private sector, to capture and build more robust OSH better data, including through new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT).

As a sign of the programme’s flexibility and adaptability to the different contexts in which it operates, priority OSH areas may vary, depending on each country’s constituent priorities and decent work country programme workplans.

Better Work’s current Strategic Phase: Sustaining our impact in 2022-27 and beyond

Strategic Priorities

Better Work five-year strategy (2022-27) embraces innovation around a set of strategic priorities to adapt to the needs of the garment and footwear industry around the world.

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