Research

Future-Proofing Women's Work

Towards a Gender-Responsive Just Transition in Bangladesh's Ready-Made Garment Sector

2025–26 Policy Residency

83%

of Bangladesh's exports come from RMG

60%

of 4 million garment workers are women

  0%

of factory inspections
track heat exposure

Download Full Brief (PDF)

Authors

  • Abyaaz Khan, MPP

    University of Toronto

  • Mohamed Khalil Larhrib, MA

    St. John's University

Acknowledgements

Sheepa Hafiza

Executive Director (Former), Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK)

Director (Former), BRAC

Ricardo Chejfec

Research Director, Institute for Research on Public Policy

Xinyuan (Shirley) Xu

Policy Consultant, BacharLorai Global

The Challenge

Bangladesh's ready-made garment sector—the world's second-largest apparel exporter—stands at a critical juncture. The industry generates over 80% of national export earnings and employs 4 million workers, the majority of them women. Their labour has powered one of the most remarkable development stories of the past four decades.

But the rules of the game are changing. Three converging pressures now threaten both worker wellbeing and export competitiveness:

  • Bangladesh's scheduled graduation from Least Developed Country status in 2026 (which will trigger new tariffs of up to 12%),

  • EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive requiring brands to verify human rights compliance across supply chains,

  • Rising temperatures that are already reducing factory productivity by 2–4% for every 1°C increase.

While post–Rana Plaza reforms transformed structural and fire safety, the current occupational safety and health framework remains incomplete—failing to address heat stress, psychosocial hazards, and gender-specific workplace vulnerabilities.

This policy brief argues that sustainable productivity depends on three pillars: occupational health protections, employment injury insurance, and worker voice.

Key Findings

Productivity Cost

Heat is an economic issue, not just a health one. Manufacturing output falls ~2% per 1°C, and worker productivity drops 2–4% on hot days. Three in four garment workers report heat-related health symptoms.

Protection Gap

Current regulations are "catastrophe-centric"—focused on preventing fires and building collapses. There are no enforceable standards on indoor temperature thresholds, heat stress mitigation, or work-rest cycles despite growing climate exposure.

Gendered Reality

Women face compounding risks: concentration in high-intensity production roles, underrepresentation in safety committees (only 5–10% of supervisors are female), and persistent barriers to reporting harassment or requesting cooling breaks.

Recommendations

For Employers & Factory Governance

    • Invest in practical heat-adaptation: improved ventilation, shaded rest areas, adjusted production schedules during high-heat periods

    • Treat harassment, verbal abuse, and coercive management as workplace safety risks—not solely disciplinary matters

    • Train supervisors on respectful management and gender-sensitive leadership

    • Ensure accessible grievance mechanisms that protect workers from retaliation

    • Integrate psychosocial risk prevention into OSH management systems

    • Ensure factory medical facilities meet statutory requirements and respond to both physical and psychological health concerns

    • Provide regular training on OSH, respectful workplace practices, and prevention of abuse

    • Strengthen reporting and referral mechanisms so workers can safely disclose concerns

For Global Buyers & Fashion Brands

    • Align pricing, lead times, and order volumes with realistic production schedules to reduce excessive workload pressures

    • Incorporate occupational health—including heat exposure and psychosocial safety—into supplier compliance frameworks

    • Support suppliers in adopting climate-adaptive measures such as improved ventilation and cooling infrastructure

    • Integrate gender-responsive indicators into monitoring systems, including protections against harassment

    • Encourage supplier factories to establish confidential worker-reporting channels

    • Move beyond audit-based compliance toward longer-term partnerships that incentivize continuous improvement

    • Provide financial and technical support for Bangladesh's Employment Injury Insurance system

    • Align sourcing commitments with suppliers demonstrating measurable progress on worker safety outcomes

For the Government of Bangladesh

    • Establish mandatory indoor temperature thresholds using the Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index

    • Require continuous temperature monitoring and mandate heat-mitigation measures when thresholds are exceeded

    • Introduce dynamic work-rest cycles linked to heat exposure with paid cooling breaks during extreme weather

    • Extend requirements for safe drinking water, sanitation, and rest facilities to all factories

    • Formally recognize harassment, intimidation, and excessive production pressure as occupational risks

    • Require factories to incorporate psychosocial risk prevention into OSH management

    • Promote gender-balanced participation in safety committees

    • Transition the EIS pilot into a permanent statutory insurance system covering all RMG workers

    • Align benefits with ILO Convention No. 121: earnings-related compensation, periodic payments, survivor benefits

    • Recognize heat-related illness and musculoskeletal disorders as compensable occupational diseases

    • Increase labour inspection capacity and equip inspectors to monitor heat exposure

    • Develop integrated digital reporting systems with gender-disaggregated data

    • Establish clear performance indicators for transparency and accountability

For Development Partners

    • Provide sustained technical and financial assistance to strengthen labour inspection systems

    • Support an independent oversight mechanism with RMG sector experts, gender specialists, and government representatives

    • Invest in digital monitoring platforms for risk-based inspections

    • Assist in integrating climate adaptation into national OSH frameworks

    • Promote research on heat stress, occupational illness, and productivity impacts

    • Support programs that enhance worker participation and leadership training for women

    • Encourage collaborative platforms bringing together government, employers, unions, and buyers

    • Integrate labour protection, social insurance, and climate resilience within broader development strategies

    • Treat worker health as a foundation for sustainable productivity and export competitiveness

Read the Full Brief

This policy brief is part of BacharLorai Global's 2025–26 Policy Residency program, which supports emerging policy professionals in producing original, actionable research on issues affecting Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi diaspora.

Learn more

SUGGESTED CITATION
A. Khan, and M.K. Larhrib. 2026. Future-Proofing Women's Work: Towards a Gender-responsive Just Transition in Bangladesh's Ready-made Garment Sector. Toronto: BacharLorai Global.

Policy Residency

The BacharLorai Policy Residency invites graduate-level researchers from world renowned universities to work a pressing policy challenge affecting the global south.

Their research is published online and disseminated through parallel events during global gatherings.

Express your interest for the 2026-27 Residency here.

Residency Team

  • Nahid Tahrima Rashid

    Manager, Policy Residency

  • Aditi Zahir

    Director, Policy Research