Rana Plaza: Workplace Safety in Bangladesh Paper Example

The collapse of the Rana Plaza on 24th April in 2013 was a horrible event which revealed the significance of ethics among corporate and government leaders. Its collapse, which caused the deaths of more than 1200 people and injured more than 2000 people, has been termed as the worst industrial accident for the past thirty years (Yardley, 2013). The eight-story building was situated in Dhaka region and housed a garment factory. This paper entails a report of a case study of the collapse of the Rana Plaza and provides findings that illuminate on the causes of the tragedy, the way forward, and an analysis of a multi-stakeholder in a crisis situation in the developing countries.

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According to the evidence provided by Bangladesh's government, the engineering designs had only allowed for the construction of six floors and not eight. In addition, the owner of the building had not acquired a permit to use the structure for industrial purposes (Seabrook, 2013). Further evidence showed that the extra two floors built without approval had used substandard materials. Similar to most structures within the Dhaka region, the building was erected on top of a previous waterway which could have compromised its stability. Importantly, the fact that the factory was overcrowded together with the industrial activities carried out in the building that used heavy machines with vibrations further compromised the integrity of the structure and its eventual collapse.

One day before the collapse of Rana Plaza, some employees noted large cracks in the building and reported to the management. A local engineer was hired to assess the structure who declared it unfit for use and advised evacuation and sealing off pending further inspections by experts from the country's top technical University (Molagh & Saha, 2014). While the employees of a neighboring bank were asked not to report to work the next day out of fear that their safety at work was at risk, the management of the garment factories in the plaza dismissed the advice of the engineer and reassured the employees that the building was safe and even threatened to fire if they did not report to work the next day (Motlagh & Saha, 2014).

After the building collapsed on the morning of 24th April, the severity of the deaths and injuries was exacerbated by the inadequacy of the rescue and emergency response agencies. The first responders on the scene were local volunteers who dug out the rubble with bare hands and sometimes added injuries to those trapped as they attempted to cut the concrete (Motlagh & Saha, 2014). Importantly, the relevant government departments had been made aware of the risk posed by the building one day earlier and failed to act. While the owner of the building Rana was blamed for the tragedy, it is true to say that the government agencies were as equally responsible as Rana. In fact, the Bangladesh Fire services and Civil Defense had signed off on the safety and compliance of the building several times before with the recent one being two weeks before the tragedy.

Like Bangladesh, addressing or averting crisis like the collapse of Rana Plaza requires the cooperation of several stakeholders. Many political and economic factors such as weak regulations, high poverty rates, and the influx of multinationals looking for cheap labor promote the occurrence of tragedies. The extent of rapid globalization in the past three decades is well illustrated by the expansion of the garment industry that has linked Western consumers and Asian workers. Multinationals such as Loblaw, among those with manufacturing plants in Rana Plaza, outsource their labor to middlemen who then outsource such services to factories. In many cases, the end consumer is unaware of the location where the products were made. As much as retailers and consumers should do due diligence before placing an order, some issues like the working conditions and safety of the workplace at the production plants are well beyond their reach (Mackinnon & Strauss, 2018). For this reason, the supply chain appears to be insignificant when assessing the contribution of multiple stakeholders in a crisis situation in the emerging economies.

Many developing countries have huge populations with more than half living in the urban areas. Also, the rate of urbanization has increased significantly in the past two decades as the emerging shift from agriculture-based economies to industrial-based economies. That shift has resulted in high economic growth rates and an increase in income inequality which has worsened the living conditions of the poor. The high poverty level is made worse by gender inequalities whereby women are poorer than women. These issues force the poor to work in unsafe places with long unpaid overtime. In this view, it is important that all agencies concerned with these issues cooperate and have synergy. These agencies are not limited to government departments but also the multinationals who hire labor. Thus, the multiple stakeholder cooperation can be summed by effective implementation of corporate social responsibility. Multinationals should understand that the hired labor comprises of a highly vulnerable population with few or no recourse. Effective implementation of the principles of corporate social responsibility ensures that companies are mindful of the environmental and social effects of their activities. That includes the welfare of the employees including their partners in the supply chain (Haar & Keune, 2014). Although corporate social responsibility is important, it must be supported by sound regulations. Unfortunately, many developing countries have weak regulations that allow for inefficiencies in the manner corporate social responsibility if carried out.

As noted earlier, many actors from different sectors are to blame for the Rana Plaza tragedy hence the need for a comprehensive framework to prevent such crises in the future. That could be achieved by improving the cooperation between factory owners, the multinationals, and government departments to improve the current condition of regulations and implementation of corporate social responsibility. The companies involved should sign agreements with international and local labor organizations stating their commitment to improving the working conditions and workplace safety.

Another way of amending the situation is increasing the prices of cheap apparel to indicate the true cost of production, increase wages for the workers, embrace ethical labeling, and increase consumer awareness. Although increasing the prices of cheap garments is contrary to the business model of "fast fashion", it is the most feasible way of ensuring the money trickles down to the workers. However, the increase in prices must be industry-wide to ensure all players remain competitive.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the collapse of the Rana Plaza was a horrible event perpetrated by political, physical, economic, and social factors over a long period. The immediate causes of the crisis were the construction of two extra floors, erection of the structure on shaky ground, and the use of vibrating machines. The collapse of Rana Plaza provides insights into the effects of globalization in the developing countries in the past three decades. A multiple stakeholder analysis of the crisis in the developing world illuminates the causes of the current threats and how to mitigate them. All stakeholders should take charge with factory owners providing safe work conditions, the government agencies monitoring the compliance of investors, and consumers carrying out due diligence where possible.

References

Haar, B. T., & Keune, M. (2014). One step forward or more window-dressing? A legal analysis of recent CSR initiatives in the garment industry in Bangladesh. International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations, 30(1), 5-25.

Mackninnon, M., & Strauss, M. (2018, May 11). Spinning tragedy: The true cost of a T-shirt. Retrieved December 31, 2018, from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/spinning-tragedy-the-true-cost-of-a-t-shirt/article14849193/?page=all

Motlagh, J., & Saha, A. (2014). The Ghosts of Rana Plaza: In Bangladesh, one year after the worst accident in the history of the garment industry, recovery remains a fragile process, justice seems elusive, and reform has a long way to go. Virginia quarterly review, 90(2), 44-89.

Seabrook, J. (2013). The price of 'progress'? From Senghenydd to Savar. Race & Class, 55(2), 82-92.

Yardley, J. (2013, May 30). Grim Task of Identifying Factories? Dead Overwhelms Bangladeshi Lab. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/31/world/asia/bangladeshi-lab-struggles-to-identify-rana-plazas-dead.html?pagewanted=all