Garment Industry Fires Are a Call to Action

"Fatal Fashion," a report from Center for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) and Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), describes the fires that ravaged garment plants in Pakistan and Bangladesh. “Hundreds of workers were killed in horrendous circumstances, and many others were severely injured,” the groups say. “Substandard buildings, poor emergency procedures, blocked fire exits, overcrowded workplaces, and vastly inadequate control and auditing practices resulted in an extremely high death toll.”

According to SOMO and CCC, the two cases are symptomatic of an ailing system, and are indicative of an industry notorious in the developing world for low wages, and demanding and unsafe working conditions. The report discusses the duties and responsibilities of the different actors involved in the cases—manufacturers, brands, retailers, audit firms, certification bodies and governments.

This report comes on the heels of “Promoting Occupational Safety and Health Through the Supply Chain,” a report by EU-OSHA that examines occupational safety and health in the supply chain and discusses the actions corporations must take to ensure that their vendors/contractors are operating in a safe manner. Download that report here.

Center for Safety and Health Sustainability, a collaborative formed by ASSE, AIHA and IOSH, has also done some work in this area. Learn more about the center's efforts here.