Exploring Suppliers’ Approaches toward Workplace Safety Compliance in the Global Garment Sector: From Bangladesh Perspective

Md Sultan Mahmood,Yukari Nagai,Nilima Haque Ruma,Toufiq Ahmed

doi:10.3390/socsci10030090

Md Sultan Mahmood, Yukari Nagai + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10030090

Copy DOI

Abstract

The readymade garment (RMG) sector is one of the main drivers of the Bangladesh economy with over 4 million employed. In the 2013 Rana Plaza accident aftermath, the implementation of workplace safety compliance (WSC) became imperative. The paper investigated the WSC initiatives implemented by the RMG sector to overcome safety challenges and their effectiveness for a safe and healthy workplace. We employed a multi-case study research strategy over three Bangladeshi garment manufacturers to resolve these queries. The result revealed that the manufacturers joined in the safety governance programs to protect workers’ health safety rights immediately after the accidents. They participated in inspections and remediations programs over structural, electrical, and fire protection as a priority. Moreover, several other human rights conventions, national labor laws and, buyer code of conduct were also adopted as regulatory and voluntary initiatives to settle workers’ health rights and social needs. The WSC enforcement empowered workers to bargain their rights toward a safe workplace and made them responsible for responding during an emergency. Finally, the paper argues that the WSC in the RMG sector nowadays covers a wide range of initiatives in three broad areas: physical environment safety, workers’ health issues, and workers’ rights.

Highlights

Workplace safety compliance (WSC) often denotes the implementation of occupational health and safety (OHS) or health, safety, and wellbeing (HSW) regulations in the work environment
Manufacturers’ WSC initiatives expanded more than SEF safety issues. They focused on an inclusive improvement for safe and healthy workplace (SHW), including factories’ constructions, safety management, health hygiene provision, chemical policies, hazard and risks assessment, in-house healthcare management, and workers’ OHS rights
As we argued that the implementation of WSC was not just standing on the pillar of legal or regulatory provisions

Summary

Introduction

Workplace safety compliance (WSC) often denotes the implementation of occupational health and safety (OHS) or health, safety, and wellbeing (HSW) regulations in the work environment. It is very significant for a successful business strategy because the HSW of the employees must carry importance to corporate policy. Rana Plaza collapse, depicted the inhumane work conditions and workers’ health rights violations worldwide. These accidents stimulated the global buyers, retailers, trade unions, and state regulators to reconsider the WSC of the Bangladeshi RMG sector (Labowitz and Baumann-Pauly 2014; Ashraf and Prentice 2019). Three significant plans, including Accord on fire and building safety (Accord), Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (Alliance), the National Tripartite Plan of Action (NTPA) on Fire Safety and Structural Integrity, began to implement the factory safety assessment and remediations throughout the Bangladesh

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion