Investigating some key issues in the fashion Industry
The fashion industry is one of the largest businesses in the world with over $2 trillion in sales. Especially with the onset of Fast fashion, inexpensive, and widely available of-the-moment garments changed the way people buy and dispose of clothing.
The industry employs more than 70 million people through the value chain. The largest employment occurs in the stitching halls where 40 million workers finish fabrics into ready to wear clothes. More than 80% of these workers are women. The industry is among the largest employers in many countries and accounts for more than half of entire manufacturing jobs for Bangladesh.
Apparel Cut & Sew Production is the most labor-intensive part of the process
Cut & sew operations are labor-intensive and are performed primarily in low wage countries. While there are several centers in developed countries closer to the markets, their contribution to the overall production is minuscule. China has traditionally accounted for lion’s share of the operations but more than 50 other countries have substantial establishments of apparel manufacturing.
However, as the world is bombarded with an unending supply of dirt-cheap clothes, there has been an increase in concerns regarding the fashion industry’s sustained exploitation of human, animal, and natural resources. Questions have risen about a myriad of occupational hazards, including low wages, poor working conditions, health hazards among others.
Spotlight on Health & Safety of factory workers
Garment factories are sites for a complex array of health and safety concerns. Garment factory workers who operate sewing machines perform precise and repetitive tasks, frequently for 10–12 hours a day, and for six days a week. The workers are usually seated at flat, non-adjustable workstations where they rapidly sew, cut, and trim — visually demanding tasks in workplaces where the quality of the lighting varies widely. The workplaces are commonly subject to poor ventilation, intense heat, clouds of airborne fiber dust, cluttered workspaces, and unsanitary factory conditions.
Various studies have shown that garment workers often suffer from back, kidney, and musculoskeletal problems resulting from extended exposure to fabric dust and chemicals and long periods of sitting and repetitive motion.
Indoor Air Quality and Ventilation
Workers are perpetually exposed to cotton dust in garment factories during fabric cutting, weaving, and knitting. As they handle and sew fabrics, lint and other small particles are released into the air and into their lungs. Research has persistently demonstrated the relationship between garment work, endotoxin exposure, and higher levels of respiratory illness, including some forms that can go undiagnosed.
Proper ventilation can efficiently reduce the presence of dust in workspaces; however, most garment factories provide either substandard ventilation equipment or none whatsoever. Many factories provide workers with protective masks which reduces worker exposure to endotoxins but it is often discomforting when working for long hours in a string of hot days.
Workplace Lighting
Garment workers, especially those who spend years sewing 10–12 hours a day and 5–6 days a week in under lit workplaces, often complain about their vision. Several surveys have reported widespread instances of lighting at garment factory worksites as insufficient.
Proper workplace lighting, especially for precise manufacturing like garment work, is essential. A study by the International Labour Organization emphasized the importance of adequate and local lighting for up-close work, so that light shines directly on the task and not into the worker’s eyes.
Workplace Temperatures
One of the most frequently expressed concerns is about workers being exposed to erratic temperatures at the workplace. Many workers face heat-related discomfort and illness and are particularly more challenging for garment factories because workers are in the tightly enclosed workspace, laboring long hours over strings of hot days in a row, with little to no ventilation or air conditioning.
Several factories, especially in countries where the industry has grown more recently, are housed in warehouse-like facilities. Such facilities are especially susceptible to extreme heat, particularly during the spring and summer months when clothing production for the fall and winter seasons is at its peak.
Toilet Hygiene and Sanitation
Surveys and studies regularly find workers reporting an inadequate number of toilets and even when they are available, bathrooms are generally soiled and unmaintained. There is a common tendency among the workers to reduce their toilet visits not only because of their uncleanliness but also because they fear pay reductions for taking too long for bathroom breaks. This practice is known to lead to urinary infections and other, more serious, health consequences.
Drinking-Water
Many surveys report of garment workers not having fresh potable water at their workplace. In several instances, while the water is available, it was not clean and distributed in old, dirty containers. As a result, many workers bring their own water and reduce consumption which is an issue particularly in hot seasons.
Disease Vectors and Pests
Surveys often find that workers report the presence of rodents and cockroaches in the workplace. Besides pests, there is additional concern about the exposure of workers to indoor mold, which is directly related to a variety of health effects such as allergic reactions, skin irritation, coughing, and headaches.
A better working place is good for factory owners too
The deterioration of health conditions impact workers of all ages and physical strength. Studies find workers who are dehydrated and facing severe discomfort have impaired cognitive performance and amplified psychological strain. This results in decreased productivity, increased quality errors, and inflated accident rates. When workers are overheated, exhausted, and distracted, and are under pressure to work fast, they overlook procedures. This not only increases injury rates among garment workers, who use equipment that slice and singe, such as sewing machines, large scissors, and steam irons and presses, but it also increases the loss time for factories.
The industry must encourage innovative solution providers like ESGRobo that are willing to break the entry barrier and work as partners to help the industry break these shackles. Our sensors provide automated, granular, and reliable measurement of every minute of activity of each machine on the production floor by deploying sensors at each work desk. Additional data capture mechanisms collect data of the ambient environment data such as temperature, air quality, illumination, noise levels, etc.
Making tech work while still not burdening the economy requires innovative models. This is where ESGRobo offers to solve the final missing link in the chain. With our blockchain-enabled smart contracts, we pay for the data infrastructure, while letting the data ownership rest with the factories who become partners on a subscription basis.
This gives us a way to reverse the vicious cycle of ‘race to the bottom’ to a virtuous cycle where all parts of the supply chain can deliver sustainably.
