On 24 April 2013, what is considered to be the greatest garment-factory accident occurred in the capital of Bangladesh killing 1129 people and injuring approximately 2515 people.
The building was called “Rana Plaza” and it contained clothing factories, a bank, apartments, and several other shops. The factories had around 5000 employees and manufactured goods for a number of high end brands like Benneton, Primark, Mango and Walmart. Before the building collapsed, cracks had been discovered but they were ignored by the garments workers as ordered by Sohel Rana, the owner of Rana Plaza. The reason why the building collapsed was ultimately because of greed, later on reports suggested that the upper four floors were built without a permit and the structure was not strong enough to bear the weight of the heavy machinery.
After this incident, the Bangladesh Fire and Safety Accord a contract between the retailers and the trade unions in Bangladesh was made. It’s a legally binding, five-year pact that makes independent safety inspections of factories and public reporting on them mandatory.
Even though most of the high end clothing brands are taking a big approach to try and improve worker health and safety, this incident is a perfect example of how greed and incompetence can go against Business ethics.
Sources- http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/rana-plaza-gap-worker-safety
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/rana-plaza-gap-worker-safety