although all major buyers from Bangladesh have been warned again and again about 220 the imminent dangers in the garment factories. In fact, the buyers and auditors left workers literally in a death-trap, as was proven reality on November 24, 2012. The confidentiality of audit reports and supplier-lists seems to prevail above the possibility to save human lives. Other buyers and their respective auditors (e.g. C&A) seem to have completely overlooked any fire safety issues. It is unclear how some of visible deficits, such as the absence of emergency exits and automated fire defense systems, could have been missed by the auditors. After the fire, several buying companies and business associations, such as BSCI, committed to undertake actions to prevent future tragedies from occurring. They are increasing the number of audits and invest in fire safety trainings. However, most of these actions fail to address the structural problems that allow for tragedies like these to happen. Many factory building were built for other purposes and, unless serious renovations take place, are not fit for garment production. To renovate these buildings, buyers should commit to financial support and pricing that makes renovations feasible. In order for the manufacturer to also invest in renovations, buyers should commit to long term relationships. In case orders will be ceased because of notorious non-compliance with safety standards, buyers should commit to ensuring it is not the workers who pay the price. This includes commitment that workers are paid legally required severance payments and back wages, negotiations with worker representatives for additional provisions to mitigate losses, and offering of alternative employment. In addition, there is no transparent multi-stakeholder process that includes a provision for binding arbitration, to ensure adequate implementation of such improvement programmes. Local civil society organisations were able to identify a considerable number of buyers that were sourcing at Tazreen at the time of the fire. Quite a number of these buyers, however, (e.g. Walmart, Sears and Hipercor) have not acknowledged Tazreen Fashions as their authorised supplier. On the contrary, they have indicated that their suppliers must have subcontracted production to Tazreen without their knowledge. The Tazreen Fashions fire case demonstrates how important it is that brands and retailers conduct human rights due diligence throughout their supply chains. This enables them to identify where their production is taking place, what the human rights risks are so that they can take measures to ensure workers’ rights are respected throughout their supply chain. In addition, it shows the importance of disclosure of supplier lists, being the only way that workers and their organisations can check 220
CCC UA database: 31 major apparel brands have been approached with urgent recommendations for fire safety already in 2010, after the Garib & Garib fire that cost the lives of 21 workers. In multistakeholder meetings organised on this subject in 2010 and 2011, another 20 brands have participated.
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