Improving workers' well-being through international action: workers in the Bangladesh ready-made garment sector

The purpose of the research discussed in this chapter was to examine the extent to which employment conditions, especially safety, had improved in RMG factories due to the international accords and agreements that were reached post 2103. The primary reason for the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013 was a low investment in health and safety at work, inadequate supervision and regulatory enforcement, and a poorly maintained workplace (Boudreau, Heath & McCormick 2018). Enforceable building and fire safety regulations were absent before the 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse and other industrial accidents such as the 2012 Tazreen fire in Bangladesh. In response to these tragedies, several global apparel brands started in 2012 to formulate private mechanisms linked to contracts with suppliers to strengthen weak fire safety regulation or improve enforcement by the government (Baumann-Pauly, Labowitz, & Banerjee 2015).