Fashion victims

Abstract

As occupational health professionals, we may be fashion leaders or followers, or just people who buy and wear clothes, but we probably do not give much thought to where and how our clothes are made. And, are we aware of the hidden price for garment workers in developing countries such as Bangladesh? In April 2013, 1129 people were killed and 2500 injured when a garment factory collapsed at the Rana Plaza complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh. More than half the victims were women and some were children. This was the deadliest garment factory accident in history. A government inquiry found that the reasons for the collapse included poor construction materials, corrupt building practices, vibrating industrial equipment at the top of a commercial building and people being forced into an unsafe structure. A recent editorial in this journal highlighted the costs of cheap fashion for workers in the garment manufacturing industry [1]. On 5 September 2013, the Church of Bangladesh Group (including Anglican Alliance, Church Mission Society, Church of Scotland, Council for World Mission, Diocese of Llandaff, Methodist Church in Britain, Oxford Mission and United Society) launched a campaign calling for global justice, wage justice and living justice for Bangladeshi garment workers [2]. Consumers are urged to consider what conditions are like for people who make their clothes, and to write to retailers and suppliers to ask: Does your company import clothing made in Bangladesh or other developing countries? Do you set minimum workplace standards for your suppliers? Do you ensure they pay their workers a fair wage? Does your company support the international Accord on Fire and Building Safety? What assessments have you made recently of your supply chain to ensure significant and sustained improvements in the working conditions of garment workers? Other suggestions include: Writing to members of the UK and European parliaments to ask for representations to be made to the retailers selling garments made in Bangladesh, and also to the Bangladeshi Government to improve conditions for workers in the industry. Talking to trade bodies to put pressure on the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and the Bangladesh Knitting Manufacturers and Exports Association. Meeting the owners or managers of shops that sell clothes imported from Bangladesh. The key points in the campaign include: Security for workers, protection from fire and unhygienic conditions in the factories, keeping factory gates open with guards during working hours. Facilities on-site for infants and babies of women garment workers and health facilities for pregnant garment workers. Canteen facilities for lunch and breaks, holidays, sick leave. An industry-wide forum to work with government to improve industry standards. This is an international occupational health and safety issue of monumental proportions. It is also a matter of social justice. In response to acknowledging the nature and the scale of the problem, and our collect ive responsibility to prevent occupational morbidity and mortality in the garment manufacturing industry, here is a campaign that occupational health and safety professionals should consider supporting.

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