The alliance aims to develop a common and standardized approach to reduce this type of accident and adapt and replicate it in different contexts since employees in this industry are vulnerable to commuting events.

According to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 1.3 million people die annually on the world’s roads and up to 50 million are injured, in incidents in which commercial vehicles are also involved, accounting for 10-22 percent of traffic accidents.

The workers most implicated in such mishaps in many places are in the footwear and garment industries, and their causes include long-distance commuting, use of less safe means of transportation such as motorcycles, commuting to work on foot, and sharing the roads with heavy commercial vehicles.

For the US company, the purpose is to offer safe, hygienic and healthy workplaces throughout its value chain, even when they are operated by other suppliers.

The ILO’s Vision Zero Fund is based on a collective action model to jointly develop and implement solutions to endemic safety and health problems in the global supply chains.

This mechanism operates in agriculture, construction, and clothing/textiles, and currently implements projects in eight countries in three continents, as part of the ILO’s flagship program Safety and Health for All, which aims to improve the health and safety of all the workers of the world.

jg/ro/crc