574 Bangladesh Garment Workers Receive Tk 4.28 Crore Under Pilot Employment Injury Scheme For Workplace Accidents

👕 A total of 574 garment workers and their family members are receiving financial support under the pilot Employment Injury Scheme (EIS), which provides long-term income protection to workers who suffer permanent disabilities and the families of those killed in workplace accidents. The beneficiaries have received a total of Tk 42,831,572 in compensation, according to a study jointly conducted by the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

📊 The BILS and ILO shared the findings with journalists at a media orientation programme in Dhaka on 29 September 2026. So far, 248 cases have been recorded under the scheme, involving 161 dependants of deceased workers and 87 workers who suffered permanent disabilities. The EIS pilot provides long-term financial support to the dependants of workers killed in workplace accidents and to workers who sustain permanent disabilities, with beneficiaries receiving financial assistance equivalent to 50 percent of wages.

🏛 Background and origins of the EIS

The Employment Injury Scheme was launched in June 2022 in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza and Tazreen disasters — two of the worst industrial accidents in Bangladesh''s history that together claimed more than 1,200 lives and injured thousands more. The Rana Plaza building collapse in April 2013 killed 1,134 garment workers and injured many more, exposing the absence of any meaningful employment injury insurance system in Bangladesh. The Tazreen Fashions fire in November 2012 killed 112 workers and similarly highlighted the human cost of weak workplace safety standards.

The EIS pilot is being implemented by ILO Bangladesh and the German development agency GIZ, with financial support from Switzerland, Canada and the European Union. The financial benefits under the scheme have been designed in line with the provisions of the ILO Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 (No. 121) — an international standard that establishes the right of workers and their families to compensation in cases of workplace injury, disability or death.

👥 What the scheme delivers

According to the BILS statement, the EIS has helped address workplace risks, reduce the risk of income loss, strengthen social protection, improve worker-employer relations and support compliance with international standards, as well as legal and human rights responsibilities. It has also contributed to poverty reduction — a critical outcome in a country where garment workers'' families often have no other source of income and can be plunged into poverty if the primary earner is killed or disabled in a workplace accident.

The media orientation highlighted three recommendations aimed at improving workplace safety and security and ensuring dignified and fair employment and livelihoods for workers and their families:

• ✅ Universal coverage: BILS and ILO urged the government to enact the necessary laws and regulations to make the EIS universal after the pilot project ends in 2027. Currently, the scheme only operates in the ready-made garment sector, but the recommendation calls for expansion to all industrial sectors where workers face workplace injury risks.
• ✅ Long-term income protection: Beneficiaries receive financial assistance equivalent to 50 percent of wages — providing ongoing income security rather than a one-time lump sum payment that can be quickly exhausted.
• ✅ Comprehensive coverage: The scheme provides benefits to workers who sustain permanent disabilities, including those resulting from road accidents as well as workplace accidents. This is particularly important in Bangladesh, where many garment workers commute long distances to factories and face significant road traffic risks.

🤝 What BILS leadership says

BILS Executive Director Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed said the project was currently operating as a pilot in the ready-made garment sector. "When the person earning an income is absent, the entire family can become financially vulnerable," he said, adding that the initiative sought to strengthen social protection and provide financial security to workers and their families through collective efforts.

Ahmed''s observation cuts to the heart of why employment injury insurance matters in Bangladesh. The country''s garment sector employs over 4 million workers — many of them women who are the primary breadwinners for their families. When a worker is killed or permanently disabled in a factory fire, building collapse or other workplace accident, the impact extends far beyond the individual: children may drop out of school, families may fall into debt, and entire communities can be impoverished.

🌏 Strategic significance for Bangladesh''s RMG sector

The Employment Injury Scheme is strategically significant for Bangladesh''s ready-made garment (RMG) sector for several reasons. First, it addresses one of the long-standing weaknesses in the country''s labour protection framework — the absence of a comprehensive employment injury insurance system. Until the EIS was launched, Bangladeshi garment workers had access only to limited compensation under the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006, which provided relatively modest lump-sum payments that did not adequately address long-term income loss.

Second, the EIS strengthens Bangladesh''s compliance with international labour standards, particularly ILO Convention No. 121 on Employment Injury Benefits. This matters for the country''s export competitiveness because international buyers — particularly those in the EU and US markets — increasingly require suppliers to demonstrate compliance with international labour standards as part of their due diligence processes.

Third, the EIS supports the broader social compliance agenda that Bangladesh''s RMG sector has been pursuing since the Rana Plaza disaster. The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, and the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC) have all contributed to significant improvements in factory safety standards — but until the EIS was launched, there was no equivalent mechanism for compensating workers and families when accidents did occur.

💰 Path to universal coverage

The BILS-ILO recommendation to make the EIS universal after the pilot ends in 2027 is a significant call to action for the Bangladesh government. Currently, the scheme operates only in the RMG sector, but workers in other sectors — including construction, ship recycling, leather, pharmaceuticals, transport and agriculture — also face significant workplace injury risks without any equivalent protection.

Extending the EIS to all industrial sectors would require several steps. First, the government would need to enact a comprehensive Employment Injury Insurance Act that establishes the legal framework for universal coverage. Second, the scheme would need to be financially sustainable — likely through a combination of employer contributions, government funding and international support. Third, an administrative infrastructure would need to be built to manage claims, assess injuries and disburse benefits across all covered sectors.

The experience of the RMG pilot provides a useful template for this expansion. The pilot has demonstrated that it is possible to deliver long-term income protection to injured workers and families of deceased workers at a reasonable cost — Tk 42.8 million for 574 beneficiaries over four years, or roughly Tk 75,000 per beneficiary. Scaling this to all industrial sectors would require significantly more funding, but the per-beneficiary cost should be similar given that the underlying insurance principles are the same.

👥 Implications for Bangladesh''s labour market

For Bangladesh''s broader labour market, the EIS pilot and its potential universal expansion have several implications. First, it would significantly strengthen the country''s social protection framework, which has historically been weak relative to other middle-income countries. A universal employment injury insurance system would put Bangladesh on par with regional peers such as Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, all of which have comprehensive employment injury schemes.

Second, it would support the formalisation of Bangladesh''s labour market. Currently, a significant portion of the country''s workforce is employed in the informal sector, where workers have no access to social protection benefits. A universal EIS, if extended to informal sector workers as well, would create incentives for formalisation and help bring more workers under the social protection umbrella.

Third, it would reinforce Bangladesh''s positioning as a responsible sourcing destination for international brands. As global brands face increasing pressure from consumers, regulators and investors to ensure that their supply chains are free of labour abuses and workplace safety risks, Bangladesh''s ability to demonstrate a robust employment injury insurance system will become an increasingly important competitive advantage.

The coming months will be critical for the future of the EIS in Bangladesh. With the pilot scheduled to end in 2027, the government will need to move quickly to enact the necessary legislation and build the administrative infrastructure needed to make the scheme universal. Industry associations such as BGMEA and BKMEA, which represent the country''s garment manufacturers, will also need to play an active role in supporting the transition from pilot to permanent scheme — recognising that a comprehensive employment injury insurance system is not just a social protection measure, but also a strategic investment in the long-term sustainability of Bangladesh''s RMG export sector.