Photo: Sarif Neer, Bangladesh
From being denounced worldwide for its poor safety and working conditions, Bangladesh and the garment industry have started to take working conditions and occupational health and safety seriously, says Peter Hasle and Jan Vang. They are both professors at University of Southern Denmark and involved in Danida supported research projects in Bangladesh.
By Vibeke Quaade
It was a great shock and a terrible tragedy when on 24 April 2013 a textile factory in Bangladesh collapsed and killed more than 1000 of those working there.
Around the globe, all of us customers who buy and wear clothes made in Bangladesh were already well aware that it was the low pay rates of the textile workers that meant we could buy our clothes so cheaply.
However, few of us knew about the poor safety and bad working conditions in which the garment workers made the clothes. The Rana Plaza factory collapse opened our eyes and since there has been a gigantic push to rectify the situation, both from within Bangladesh and internationally.
Now, 8 years later, a lot has happened. Peter Hasle and Jan Vang, Professors at the University of Southern Denmark, and involved in several large Danida supported research projects in occupational health and safety in Bangladesh, have followed the development closely.
It is not an overestimation to say that a huge transformation in building safety has taken place in Bangladesh, but there is still much scope for improving occupational health and safety in general, says Peter Hasle and Jan Vang in tandem.
During the project Health and safety, productivity and quality in the garment industry in Bangladesh Peter Hasle and Jan Vang together with colleagues from both Denmark and Bangladesh looked into the correlation between the working environment and productivity in the textile industry. They found that companies with high productivity also have good working conditions.
Watch the video about the project Health, safety and productivity in garment in Bangladesh.
These findings were important because they show that it is profitable for a company to invest in a good working environment, Peter Hasle says, and continues;
