I am fortunate enough to be associated with a dedicated group of professionals who plan, organize and present Forum North, a local health and safety conference.
At every opening ceremonies Larry Hebert, a long-time friend of the conference, leads hundreds of delegates in a moment of silence for those who died on the job the previous year. It is a very solemn occasion.
This moment was brought to mind recently as disturbing details from the latest Bangladesh tragedy hit the news.
The fatalities are rising. More than 2,000 people were working in the building when it collapsed.
Maybe when the final death toll is announced there will be a moment of silence for those unfortunate souls but it will be mostly business as usual in Bangladesh.
The event is now under criminal investigation and somebody will be held responsible. Recommendations will be made, and promises, too.
Western retailers who rely on the endless flow of garments, running shoes and other goods from the third world have vowed to compensate the bereaved families.
Funds have been set aside for worker training and improvements in working conditions.
International groups are calling for higher safety standards and workers’ rights.
This response seems totally appropriate considering the circumstances but there are reasons to doubt the sincerity of the world’s biggest retailers.
Occupational Health and Safety is all about managing risk and that is exactly how this disaster will be handled. It’s a classic risk-reward scenario.
The attraction of low overseas labour costs and cheap goods outweighs any potential risk. In other words, bargain prices trump human life.
Besides, even when buildings collapse and thousands of workers are buried, many retailers feel they can easily manage the public outcry.
If they are handled properly, death and destruction don’t really affect retail sales at all.
Eighteen months ago a fire in a Bangladeshi textile factory killed 112. Just last week, in the same city as the fallen building, fire in another garment factory killed eight people.
To date there has been no mass exodus by major retailers, their shareholders or the fashionably dressed consumers who buy their clothes.
Westerners continue to purchase the tainted brands even after retailers openly admit their responsibility for the tragedy.
Some consumers are annoyed by the negative publicity. How can they be expected to look their best when the Bangladeshi who made their clothes may lie dead under a crumbled factory? It’s just bad karma.
As for the exploited workers themselves, they don’t complain much. The garment industry represents a huge economic opportunity, especially for women trying to escape dire poverty and provide for their families.
They are happy for the chance to get ahead. So much so they are willing to endure harsh working conditions, tolerate hazardous environments and even risk their lives in condemned buildings.
Western consumers, the end users of the garments, are also willing to accept that risk. It’s just an unintended consequence of the global economy.
Still, it’s making them nervous. Consumers are checking the labels of the clothes they wear to see if they might be implicated in this crime.
But for the victims who are being dug out of the rubble in Bangladesh there will be no moment of silence and a year from now the entire sad event will be mostly forgotten.
It’s a harsh dilemma created by a cruel world economy.
If we continue to demand high fashion and fancy sneakers at bargain prices, workers from the third world will continue to carry the burden.
This will go on until we realize the true price of a pair of running shoes.
