Some Bangladesh garment factories are providing workers with affordable reading glasses as studies and a research trial show the low-cost intervention can boost productivity, reduce production errors and improve workers' wellbeing.

According to an AP report, for Ruma Aktar, a sewing machine operator at a garment factory in Bangladesh, a simple pair of reading glasses has transformed both her work and her daily life.

Workers are expected to produce thousands of garments each day. Precision is crucial, and even minor mistakes can slow production or lead to rejected items, according to Ruma. 

She said her new glasses have enabled her to thread needles more quickly while also relieving headaches and eye strain.

“Before I got the glasses, it took me a long time to thread the needle. Now I can thread it in just a short time. I make far fewer alterations than before,” she said.

Bangladesh is seeing some factory owners provide workers with reading glasses to help improve productivity. 

The garment sector accounts for about 11% of the country's gross domestic product and employs around 4 million people.

VisionSpring, a global nonprofit social enterprise that provides affordable glasses to people in lower-income countries, estimates that about one in three Bangladeshi garment workers needs glasses but does not have them, reports AP.

Through a partnership with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), VisionSpring has supplied some workers with glasses costing less than $10 a pair.

Ella Gudwin, chief executive of VisionSpring, said the benefits of providing reading glasses were immediate, with workers better able to meet quality and production targets.

She said improved vision also reduces errors such as skipped stitches, uneven hems and misplaced buttons, thereby cutting the need for rework.

Fahima Akhter, a director of Bangladeshi garment manufacturer Masco Group, said the company's managers initially did not realise how many workers had vision problems because they rarely complained. 

She said Masco Group has screened about 5,000 workers, with around 30% receiving glasses.

Akhter said the company plans to expand the programme to its remaining workforce of more than 20,000 employees.

“We don’t consider it a cost. It is an investment. If the workers are working with better vision, their productivity and workplace safety will improve, and eventually this will translate into better productivity and profit for the company,” she said.

A randomized controlled trial in India, co-authored by Gudwin, found that sewing machine operators who received reading glasses increased their productivity by 6% while making fewer errors.

The study, published in April in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, found that every $1 spent on vision screening and glasses generated $3.37 in productivity gains over a 12-week period. 

It also estimated that expanding similar programmes across the global textile and garment industry could generate the equivalent of $27 billion in additional annual output.

Gudwin said vision correction has long been overlooked because eyeglasses are often viewed as a luxury rather than an essential workplace tool. She added that many factory workers develop age-related short-sightedness in their late 30s and early 40s but delay treatment because they assume glasses are expensive.

She said bringing eye screenings directly into factories helps remove those barriers.

Masco Group's Akhter said Bangladesh's garment sector should make vision screening a standard workplace benefit.

"Having a clear vision is not a luxury, it is a necessity now," she said.