Boosting business

Seasonal changes, particularly the monsoons, are a prime time for diseases like diarrhoea and dysentery, which are mainly caused by contaminated water and poor hygiene.

“Fevers, coughs and colds are also very common during this time,” says Amir Ausaf, 38, manager of Kings International Ltd, pictured far left. “Either employees are ill, or their children and family members are. Either way, absenteeism is high during this time.”

Staff absences from the tannery would put pressure on the business, but the new facilities and training sessions provided by WaterAid have helped turn things around.

“Little things, like changing one’s slippers before going to the toilet so that one does not bring back germs into the working or living area, started making sense and employees started following it,” says Amir.

“We put extra pairs of slippers near the toilets so employees could change out of their working boots ... This also ensured the toilets remained clean.”

Amir also realised that employees would tell their families about what they had learned during hygiene training sessions at the tannery. Some employees who did not have a toilet at home decided to build one. Since then, illness among Kings International Ltd employees and their families has been reduced.

“Now absenteeism during seasonal changes has reduced, which means productivity has gone up,” Amir says. Across the three tanneries, absenteeism attributed to WASH decreased by 29%. 

“It is simple logic: if our employees are healthy, we stand to gain from it,” says Amir. “Industries must invest in the health of their employees.”

_{(Image: WaterAid/Anindito Mukherjee)}

“The main challenge we face in this industrial area is pollution and water problems,” says Shamima Khatun, 28, an operator at Fakir Fashion.

Shamima, pictured here, often used to arrive late to the factory because she had to queue for hours in the morning to collect water to finish her chores before work.

“I never received the present bonus that men workers often get,” she says.

But after WaterAid’s project to bring clean water to the Fakir Fashion factory and the surrounding neighbourhood, Shamima no longer has to wait. There is now clean water “all day long” in the community and at work, she says.

“There are separate toilets for men and women, and women have different bathing spaces,” says Shamima, who has worked at the factory for six years. “This has secured women's safety, and we no longer hold ourselves to go to the toilet anymore.”

Shamima also attended WaterAid’s hygiene sessions to learn about managing her periods. She had never used a sanitary pad before, but can now buy them with ease from a vending machine in the factory.

“I no longer face any urinary infections, which has also happened to many of my friends in the factory,” says Shamima, who is now inspiring her colleagues to use sanitary pads.

“Once they understood the long-term benefit of using a sanitary pad, they started using it too,” she says. “I feel happy that I can contribute by motivating others.”

_{(Image: WaterAid/Fabeha Monir)}

With greater investment in clean water, decent toilets and handwashing facilities in the Fakir Fashion factory, hygiene practices have improved. Maher Abdullah AL, who oversaw the changes in the factory when he was CEO, noticed the changes.

“Workers and community people learned to better use these resources. Their families are benefiting, which results in better production,” he said. “Their productivity has increased because of practices of health and hygiene, use of proper toilets and use of sanitary pads.”

Absenteeism among the factory's employees is also down by 9%, which Maher said is “impressive”.

It’s not just the employees’ health and productivity that have improved.

The factory has seen significant environmental benefits and cost savings since the installation of a rainwater harvesting system, which collected more than 16,400m³ of rainwater between May 2020 and June 2021.

“In the monsoon, we can use this water in our dyeing houses that do not need particular chemical treatment – supporting our environment,” Maher said soon after the system was installed.

The changes at Fakir Fashion could not have come at a better time. When the COVID-19 pandemic reached Bangladesh a year after the project began, Fakir Fashion was well-equipped.

“We had all these practices and facilities already there when COVID-19 spread globally,” said Maher, adding that the practices were fundamental for Fakir Fashion to keep the business going.

_{(Image: WaterAid/Fabeha Monir)}