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How to Make Factory Conditions Better

Government, not just the private sector, must help keep workers safe

MIT News
Mon, 05/06/2013 - 10:48
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April’s factory collapse in Bangladesh, which killed more than 700 people, has renewed public debate over working conditions in the developing world: How can dangerous and debilitating factory work be improved?

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For more than a decade, MIT political scientist Richard Locke has studied that question. Locke has made hundreds of visits to factories around the world, heading a team of researchers who have been collecting an unprecedented amount of information from companies. For years, Locke thought that the answer might lie in private policing: multinational firms auditing the factories where their suppliers produce goods, noting safety violations, and threatening to withhold business from those suppliers.

But in recent years, Locke has changed his view. Private oversight, he thinks, is not enough to eliminate workplace dangers, excessive hours, child labor, and poor wages. Governments, he says, must set and uphold better factory standards as well.

 …

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Comments

Submitted by umberto mario tunesi on Thu, 05/09/2013 - 19:47

Workers or Buckets?

When I was last time in Cairo, a couple of years ago, they were completing the airport Terminal 3 building. It's very hi-tech, all glass and aluminum, the roof is made of aluminum sheets and it's shaped like a sector of a circle. There probably was an official visit coming on, and there were workers on the roof to make it shine. The workers stepped barefooted on the roof, no protection whatsoever, they could fall from 20 yards height anytime; but the "precious" buckets were fastened with ropes, to prevent them from falling and spilling the liquid. Maybe the workers were anxious to meet their maker ... Thank you.

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