Last Thursday, Bangladeshi firefighters launched a surprise inspection of clothing factories across the country. The visit was prompted by the death of more than 110 workers in a fire at Tazreen Fashions, a maker of T-shirts and polo shirts for western retailers, last month.
Most of the factories were found to have an inadequate number of extinguishers, fire exits and not enough staff with safety training. Sadly, this means that the Tazreen tragedy is likely to be repeated.
Bangladesh has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the migration of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs in industries such as toys, garments and shoes from southern China, where wages have risen by double digits. Almost 80 per cent, or $20bn, of Bangladesh’s exports earnings come from its 4,000 factories that make clothing for western retailers.