Project manager: Prof. Peter Hasle
Deputy project manager: Prof. Jan Vang
The project was started while the researchers were employeed at AAU and will be completed by Peter Hasle, SDU.
The project creates new knowledge about sustainable co-development between occupational health and safety (OHS) and productivity in the readymade garment (RMG) industry in Bangladesh.
The objective of the project is to study the characteristics of the relationships between the RMG buyers and suppliers and how external pressure from buyers towards OHS and productivity improvements can be translated into sustainable advancements for the suppliers. The project is theoretically framed in an extended version of a capability maturity-model integrated with a safety maturity model. Drawing on this model, the conditions affecting OHS and productivity are be explored by means of a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods in a baseline study of 50 firms.
The result of this research, combined with theoretical elements from OHS, supply chain management, operations management and organization theory, are developed into specific recommendable methods for concerted OHS and productivity improvements as well as sustainability. The resulting methods are implemented and tested in 12 suppliers. The knowledge obtained will subsequently be disseminated to the scientific community, the stakeholders in the garment industry in Bangladesh, and Danish and European buyers. In this way, this project aims at directly and indirectly (i.e. through disseminations) improving OHS practices and productivity among Bangladeshi RMG suppliers.