These are clear and present problems that the industry will need to address
Our RMG sector is the veritable engine of our economy but one that is not without its faults.
While it is true that the industry is far from the days of disasters such as Rana Plaza and Tazreen Fashion, there are still a number of key concerns which have yet to be addressed by all of the stakeholders involved.
Despite the groundwork laid by the Accord on Fire and Building Safety and the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, worker safety as an issue is still in flux — the total number of worker deaths in the RMG sector, due to workplace accidents, in 2017 and 2018 was 15 and 10; in 2019 and 2020, that number was reduced to only 2 and 1. However, the very next year, 2021, saw the number jump to 13.
According to reports, fluctuations in the number of deaths can be chalked up to a decreasing number of safety inspections which are supposed to be carried out by bodies such as the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments despite their increase in technical and institutional capacity.
However, an inadequate number of inspections is much less of a problem when their comprehensiveness is in question, as the inspectors allegedly do not perform their inspections as they are mandated to.
These are clear and present problems that the industry will need to address moving forward,
It should be noted that Accord and Alliance were, at the end of the day, buyer-led. When foreign buyers delay payments for shipped orders or negotiate for lower rates with a nation that already has a competitive edge when it comes to cheap labour, it ultimately hurts everyone involved in the industry.
Issues such as worker safety are, then, directly tied to problematic foreign buyers.
That is not to say that factory owners are not at fault — the government should work with RMG owners to ensure that workers get the bare minimum guaranteed by law and to take measures through which the workers can become partners in the success of the sector.
Only when worker safety is tackled with the emphasis it requires can the industry be truly elevated.
