Case 3: Tazreen Fashion Fire Accident: Course: HRM470 (Negotiation) Section: 2

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Group M Case 3_Tazreen Fashion Fire Accident
Case 3: Tazreen Fashion Fire Accident

Course: HRM470 (Negotiation)
Section: 2
Group M
Suraiya Afroz Soria Zoon Fabliha Anbar Farhin Rahman
(Group Leader) Haider Maliha
171 1838 630 181 2017 630 163 1586 030 143 0190 030
Submitted To:
Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed (TuA), Lecturer, North South University
Date: 9th September, 2020
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Letter of transmittal
th
9 September, 2020
Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed

Lecturer, Department of Management
North South University
Bashundhara, Dhaka-1229, Bangladesh
Subject: Letter of Transmittal
Dear Sir,
It is indeed a great pleasure for us to be able to hand over the result of our hardship of the
HRM470 course’s 3rd case on Tazreen Fashion Fire Accident. This report is the result of
the knowledge which has been acquired from the provided case file. We tried our level
best for preparing this case solution.
The information of this report is mainly based on the given case information and our own
understanding & analysis. All of us gave our hundred percent for making this case
solution come together.
We, fervently hope that you will find this case write-up worth reading. Please feel free
for any query or clarification that you would like us to explain. Hope you will appreciate
our hard work and excuse the minor errors. Thanking you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Group M
HRM470; Section 2
Name NSU ID
Suraiya Afroz (Group Leader) 171 1838 630
Soria Zoon Haider 181 2017 630
Fabliha Anbar Maliha 163 1586 030
Farhin Rahman 143 0190 030
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Executive Summary
From this case on Tazreen Fashion Fire Accident we can see that one of the crucial
contributors to the BD economy is the RMG sector. Bangladesh comprises more than
4,500 garment factories employing over four million workers. The business is pivotal to
the public economy as a wellspring of work and foreign currency. But on the night of
November 24, 2012, a fire broke out at Tazreen which resulted in the deaths of 111
workers and more than 300 workers were injured. This particular accident generated
uproar against the existing work conditions in the RMG sector globally. Right after the
incident, international media jumped over the matter ― “Bangladesh is the way it is
because they have been rewarded by the industry,” Scott Nova, executive director of the
Washington-based Workers Rights Consortium, said of the country’s garment makers.
―It has the worst labor rights record, lowest wages and most dangerous factories. And
the response of big western retailers has been to pour more business into the country.”
In problem identification we see that non-existent structural measures such as faulty
electrical wiring, missing fire alarms, fire exists, fire extinguishers and disaster defense
materials in the factory buildings have increased and in fact accelerated the probability of
fire disasters in Bangladesh’s companies. The management was also unable to stop the
negative publicity and identify the political propaganda in the world regarding the
disaster incidents. The real reason and hardship behind the disasters often go unheard by
the world. The famous brands also try to save their own skin and deny of knowing the
workplace environment of these factories.
In terms of identifying the ongoing situation from the Tazreen Fashion Fire Accidents
case we have chosen PESTLE analysis because the case extensively provides information
regarding an industry rather than a single company. We also had all the necessary
information to examine several distinct categories in the macro environment. If the case
only highlighted about a single firm’s internal and external factors, SWOT would have
been applied by the team. PESTLE made it possible to figure out the Political, Economic,
Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental aspects of the RMG industry and effects
of the fire disasters on the overall industry.
To battle some problems management has come up with few agendas to discuss with the
union. The management is looking forward to monitoring the infrastructure development
and ensuring fire safety and structural integrity of the factories, to match the common
standard for factory buildings. The Government is trying to control the negative publicity
regarding the factory disasters and highlight the reasons behind the incidents. The
management also wants to address that foreign buyers often reject to pay after any
disaster happens and do not take responsibility of not verifying if the factories are
maintaining proper regulatory policies.
Management has also provided recommendation regarding the negative media coverage
after each incident by international media outlets such as BBC & Washington Post started
posing extensive pressure on the industry and international buyers shifted their orders to
other countries which adversely impacted on the goodwill. The lack of proper education
and training among workers has also been addressed in the recommendations. We hope
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that given recommendations get implemented as soon as possible by the right authority in
order to improve the industry situation.
Table of Content
s
Background....................................................................................................1
Problem Identification..................................................................................6
Justification For Choosing PESTLE over SWOT......................................7
PESTLE Analysis..........................................................................................8
POLITICAL..........................................................................................................8
ECONOMIC.......................................................................................................10
SOCIAL..............................................................................................................12
TECHNOLOGICAL............................................................................................14
LEGAL...............................................................................................................16
ENVIRONMENTAL...........................................................................................17
MANAGEMENT AGENDA......................................................................19
Recommendation & Implementation 1.....................................................22
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Group M Case-3_Tazreen Fashion Fire Accident
Background
One of the crucial contributors to the BD economy is the RMG sector. Bangladesh
comprises more than 4,500 garment factories employing over four million workers. The
business is pivotal to the public economy as a wellspring of work and foreign currency.
Garments constitute about four-fifths of the country’s manufacturing exports, and the
industry is expected to grow at an exponential rate. Previously, agriculture was the
main sector of the country's economy. In the last 20-25 years, Bangladesh has switched
to second gear from agricultural sector to manufacturing sector. Around 3.0 million
individuals are legitimately related while another 20 million individuals are in a
roundabout way engaged with the RMG sector. According to a renowned World Trade
Organization (WTO) report, Bangladesh secured 4th position in global apparel exports
in 2007. The country exported more than $10 billion of apparel in the same year.
Fruitfulness of the Industry

The garments industry is one of the two significant foreign trade producing sources, the
other being remittance from exiles. The RMG has given a magnificent chance to
women to get employment, generating a noteworthy change in the socioeconomic level
of the country. In that manner, a significant social change has been brought by this
industry. Many will contend that the expectations for everyday comforts of the workers
are still worse than average, however it is evident that they are at any rate carrying on
with a superior life than they used to live previously. The accomplishment in this
industry is generating entrepreneurs too. Rather than moving abroad for employment,
young Bangladeshis are giving work to numerous in their own nation. The
accomplishment of RMG has given a positive picture to Bangladesh globally. Many
brand name clothing things are presently 'Made in Bangladesh'. Another achievement
of this industry is that it has energized the individuals, the youthful age specifically to
become accustomed to neighborhood items. This eventually spares foreign trade.
Initiatives Are Absolutely Necessary

It is noteworthy that the industry has successfully overcame many internal problems
such as lack of continuous power supply, lack of a sound freight transportation system,
poor container handling system at the port, unfriendly environment for business and
unstable political situations and many more. However, the industry needs to implement
some serious initiatives in order to sustain longer. Every year, fire incidents claim many
lives and make extensive loss of properties. If properly designed and structurally sound,
the causes of fire in the garment’s factories will be reduced. The garments owners
should ensure that factories have required number of extinguishers, have earthquake
drills, regular fire safety measure, and recreational facilities for their workers etc. The
industry needs to take care of the environment seriously. The government should assist
this industry to stay competitive in the global market by providing better transportation
network system. Without these measures, Bangladesh might quickly fall off track and
the RMG sector might be overshadowed by something more sophisticated.
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Downfall of the Industry: A DEADLY Example

A unit of Tuba Group is Tazreen Fashion Ltd situated at Nischintapur in Savar. It is
accounted for sending out material worth $35 million. The plant is essential for The
Tuba Group which is a significant exporter of apparel from Bangladesh into the U.S.,
Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands. Its significant customers incorporate Wal-
Mart, Carrefour and IKEA. On the night of November 24, 2012, a fire broke out at
Tazreen which resulted in the deaths of 111 workers and more than 300 workers were
injured. This particular accident generated uproar against the existing work conditions
in the RMG sector globally. There were multiple investigations undertaken by the
government and the garment association (BGMEA – Bangladesh garment Manufacture
and Export Association) which termed the fire as ―pre-planned‖ and sabotage.
Investigation &Report Generation

This incident in Tazreen Fashion Ltd. killed around 111 people; 102 charred bodies
were found inside the factory and 59 bodies were burnt beyond recognition. The
Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE) carried
out an independent investigation into the incident to highlight the root causes and
failures resulting in the large number of deaths and injuries in the incident. First of all,
there were no fire or emergency exits or stairways and there was only 1 main entrance
and exit way which is situated on the ground floor which was not wide enough to
accommodate the number of workers in the factory. In the factory, fire extinguishers
and other fire defence materials were inadequate and were not to be found during the
fire. Moreover, raw materials were stored on the ground floor and in close proximity to
the high voltage electric transformers which resulted in the flames spreading at a fast
rate. The factory did not have a renewed fire safety certificate either. Supervisors on the
2nd and 3rd floors stopped the workers from evacuating the factory when the fire alarm
went off and the highest numbers of dead bodies (69) were recovered from this floor.
Cause Analysis: Why did the innocents lose their lives?

The fire started on the ground floor of the nine-story factory which trapped the workers
on the floors above. Because of the large amount of fabric and yarn in the factory, the
fire was able to quickly spread to other floors, complicating fire fighting operations.
The fire burned for more than seventeen hours before the fire fighters were successful
in extinguishing it. When the fire alarm rang, managers said it is not a serious fire and
workers should keep on working. And so, no one took it seriously. When the workers
understood the severity of the situation, they ran here and there recklessly. Workers ran
to the sample room and broke the windows and jumped onto the roof of the building
next to the factory, then onto the ground. Workers didn’t know where the managers
were. It seems like that they got out through the main exit, locked it and left. None of
the floors had emergency exits. Owner did not follow building code: they had a nine-
storey factory but had permission only for three floors. Raw materials were stored on
the ground floor and in close proximity to the high voltage electric transformers which
resulted in the flames spreading at a faster rate. The factory did not have a renewed fire
safety certificate either and everything about the plant was wrong structurally.
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RMG Industry & Its Miseries

The vulnerability and risks of industrial sectors and the determination of its losses is an
important component for analyzing damage and loss assessment. Because indirect
losses (for example: from production downtimes) can exceed direct losses multiple
times. Every single year, small and large scale of fire in garments factory results in
huge economic damage and loss is a common phenomenon in our country. Information
from Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense suggest that 2427 small and large
scale of fire occurrences took place in RMG sector of Bangladesh from the year of
2000-2014 in which loss has determined BDT 8997426164, death 368 and injured 680.
Six remarkable fire incidents and their impacts have been observed in six factories to
understand the losses. The observing factories are Tazreen Fashion, Smart Fashion
Export Factory, Tung Hay Sweaters Ltd, Aswad Composite Mills Limited, Standard
Group and Mega Yarn Dyeing Mills Limited. When a factory affects by fire incident,
different types of losses are observed and all are deadly for the industry.
Western Countries Are Affected Too

Even though there are hardly any factories in the Western countries, since the
beginning of the industrial revolution, the Western side of the world has also faced
some serious incidents. In 2000, a fire and explosion at a fireworks depot in Enscheda,
Netherlands resulted in 24 deaths and another 947 were injured. On February 1, 2008,
an unlicensed fireworks factory exploded accidentally, leaving by some reports at least
22 people dead and at least 100 injured. In 2010,a large explosion occurred at a Klein
Energy Systems 620-megawatt, Siemens combined cycle gas- and oil-fired power plant
in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. Preliminary reports attributed the cause of
the explosion to a test of the plant's energy systems. In July 6, 2013, forty-seven people
were killed when there was a derailment of an oil shipment train in Quebec Canada. In
May 13, 2014, an explosion occurred two kilometres below the surface, starting a fire,
which caused the Soma mine's (situated in Turkey) elevator to stop working. This
trapped several hundred miners, many of whom died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Worse Situation in The East

A few deadly fire accidents had occurred in East region Garments industries; mostly in
China, India and Pakistan. In 2011, a fire broke in China’s capital and 90 people were
killed and 45 were injured in a blaze at an illegal Beijing building. The building in
Jiugong town was illegally built by a local resident who leased out its ground floor to a
couple who ran a garment processing business. According to the China central
television, an electrical short-circuit was suspected as the cause of the fire. In 11
September 2012, an enormous fire broke out at a garment factory in the Karachi,
Pakistan - which is considered to be the most deadly and worst industrial factory fires
in Pakistan's history. The fires occurred in an RMG factory where 300 people died and
more than 600 were seriously injured. The victims died of smoke inhalation, and many
of the survivors sustained third-degree burns. In November 2013, a fire broke out at a
suspected illegal garment factory on the outskirts of the Indian capital, New Delhi
which caused a lot of innocent workers to face death.
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Industry Implements Initiatives

After the massive fire accident, Tazreen Fashion Ltd. did not take any specific initiative
to serve the victims. However, all the victims and their families were compensated by
the government and also the industry. A few significant activities are currently in
progress in Bangladesh to address fire and building security in article of clothing
manufacturing plants. For instance: BGMEA will give 100,000 BDT to every one of
the casualty's families as remuneration. BGMEA will likewise open a debacle help
subsidize record to gather commitments from purchasers, dispatching lines and RMG
makers soon. BGMEA will also restore the fire casualties by extending to them
employment opportunities in clothing plants, helping for 10 years the families of those
killed if they do not have any earning members and paying for medical expenses of the
injured. They would dispense compensation of 990 casualty laborers at the Industrial
Relations Institute in Tongi. A Medical Trust has now been set up, including agents of
the administration, bosses and common society. The rest of the Tazreen supports will
be overseen by this Trust for the arrangement of both physical and mental clinical
treatment. Additionally, the Government of Bangladesh and the International Labor
Organization have propelled a significant activity including another better Work
software engineer planned for improving working conditions in the instant piece of
clothing industry in Bangladesh. Here, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are
mutually contributing US$15 million to the US$24.21 million developer.
Government Implements Drastic Measures

Right after Tazreen Fire incident and tragic collapse of Rana Plaza, the Government has
taken various steps to improve overall workplace safety and Compliance. The
Government has upgraded the Directorate of Inspection for Factories and
Establishments (DIFE) to a Department with 993 staff. Out of which 575 are inspectors.
After up-gradation of the DIFE, inspectors are undergoing different training
procedures. The Government has proclaimed the base wages for the laborers of the
readymade pieces of clothing industry with an expansion of 77% from the past one. It
has been actualized since 01 December 2013. Yearly investigation plan for 2015 for the
DIFE has created and detailing of examination strategy is in progress. In the current
year, a sum of 7406 industrial facilities has been reviewed. This incorporates 962 RMG
plants. If there should be an occurrence of resistance, the industrial facility proprietors
are seen to redress and arguments are recorded against the manufacturing plant
proprietors for neglecting to amend. In accordance with the Plan of Action, ILO has
been executing an undertaking of $24.5 million under the Ministry of Labor and
Employment. ACCORD and ALLIANCE are completing the appraisal for auxiliary
respectability, fire and electrical security of the RMG plant structures. As indicated by
the proposal of Review Panel, 39 processing plants have been completely shut and 42
industrial facilities have been halfway shut for wellbeing reason. All the manufacturing
plants have begun remediation as per the suggestion of surveying specialists. In such
manner, DIFE has begun checking those healing estimates taken by production line
proprietors. Alongside that, execution of Better Work Program in Ready-made
Garments industry has been propelled by ILO.
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International Media is Busy Again

The stunning recurrence of deadly industrial facility fires shows that rising benefits
have not prompted upgrades in well-being. Industry watchdogs state that fire-related
deaths are an inescapable aftereffect of cost-cutting estimates taken by garment owners
under exceptional tension from Western buyer organizations to deliver ever-bigger
amounts of garments at absolute bottom costs. Right after the incident, international
media jumped over the matter ― “Bangladesh is the way it is because they have been
rewarded by the industry,” Scott Nova, executive director of the Washington-based
Workers Rights Consortium, said of the country’s garment makers. ―It has the worst
labor rights record, lowest wages and most dangerous factories. And the response of big
western retailers has been to pour more business into the country.” Labor rights groups
have urged top foreign buyers to sign an agreement that includes a binding commitment
to ban subcontracting to at-risk facilities, finance renovations and fire-safety training
and make audit results public. A Washington Post reporter gained access recently to
what is left of the Smart Export Garments factory. Found there were tags for several
well-known European brands, including Bershka, a retailer owned by the Spanish firm
Inditex, and the world’s largest fashion group. All of these remarks highlight the pitfalls
of our industry.
BBC Also Had To Involve

After the incident of Tazreen Fashion Ltd, BBC reporters took the matter into serious
consideration and did their research. The head of the inquiry told BBC that it was not
clear who was responsible for starting the fire, which swept through a clothing factory
in Dhaka. But Main Uddin Khandaker added that the owner of the Tazreen factory had
been guilty of "severe negligence". He also added that - "The owner of the factory
could not avoid the responsibility and he committed severe negligence by which such
type of death happened.” The factory owner, Delwar Hossain, has recently denied
claims that the structure was risky to work in. Following the blast, he told columnists
that he trusted it was begun intentionally yet gave no subtleties. International media
covered all of these.
Implications of the Fire and Similar Incidents

The disaster of Tazreen Fashion Ltd. was the latest in a string of fatal fires in
Bangladesh's large garment manufacturing sector. In December 2010, a wiring problem
led to a fire in another clothes factory in the same industrial zone, leaving at least 25
people dead. Street protests The Tazreen factory makes clothing for western retailers
including Wal-Mart, C&A and The Edinburgh Woolen Mill. Bangladesh is the world's
second largest exporter of readymade clothes, next only to China. Western retailers
insist that they source their clothes from Bangladeshi factories which comply with
safety standards, BBC’s correspondent added. Thousands of people joined street
protests after the fire, demanding better protection from such incidents. And so, the
international market started thinking of alternative countries to procure their
manufactures from. If this scenario continues, Bangladesh will not be able to sustain its
RMG industry and will for sure, move into a different market – leaving millions of
lives unemployed.
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Problem Identification
1. Inefficient transportation systems and container mishandling on port of Bangladesh
have increased the production cost in the RMG sector which has ultimately forced the
companies to skip safety and health measures of the employees’ working situation.
2. Non-existent structural measures such as faulty electrical wiring, missing fire alarms,
fire exists, fire extinguishers and disaster defense materials in the factory buildings
have increased and in fact accelerated the probability of fire disasters in Bangladesh’s
companies. On top of that the management does not seem to care enough about
maintaining the proper lawful safety measures either.
3. The garment workers are deprived of necessary recreational facilities such as regular
fire and earthquake drills, which would have made them aware of what they should
do in the face of unannounced disaster. As a result illiterate workers often do not
know how to properly operate dangerous machines as well.
4. The garment owners and managers lack responsibility for accepting their own
mistakes and ensuring proper safety requirements in the factory, instead they blame
the workers and “unknown rivals” for the disasters and untimely deaths of their
employees.
5. Company owners’ attitude of simply paying off the dead workers’ families & injured
workers have been accepted as a solution for decades that has encouraged new
factory owners to not follow Bangladesh Labor Act, 2006 amended in 2013 that
specifically talks about ensuring Health and Safety of workers.
6. The current minimum wage of a garment worker is 5300 BDT/US$68 per month
which is unimaginably low for a person who wants to live a decent life. On top of that
the workers do not get any safety measures or health insurance from their worker
place. This situation has also become a concern for the international buyers who are
inclined to work with companies that follow certain health and safety regulations.
7. Many international buyers are also interested to look the other way when it comes to
complying to health and safety rules in Bangladeshi factories so that they can buy at
an extremely cheap price and make a higher profit margin for themselves. On the
other hand Bangladeshi workers get exploited for the making of cheaper priced
merchandise.
8. Although the government has amended laws but the implementation of these laws is
nowhere to be witnessed. As a result the workers are losing faith over the government
and different factories' labor unions are often seen to be on strike in order to gain their
rightful working environment.
9. Government is forcing the factory owners to pay the workers after the disasters but
refusing to negotiate with the foreign importers regarding the price increase on the
produced merchandise which is stopping the owners from implementing the safety
and health measures in their factories and improve their infrastructure without getting
bankrupt in the process.
10. The management is also unable to stop the negative publicity and identify the
political propaganda in the world regarding the disaster incidents. The real reason and
hardship behind the disasters often go unheard by the world. The famous brands also
try to save their own skin and deny of knowing the workplace environment of these
factories.
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Justification For Choosing PESTLE over SWOT

A PESTLE analysis is a framework or tool used to analyze and monitor the macro-
environmental factors that may have a profound impact on an organization’s or and
industry’s performance. Reasons for choosing PESTLE for the mentioned case are
multilateral. These are summarized below:
1. Information Availability: The given case about the Fire Incident in Tazreen Fashion
Ltd provides data with respect to an industry – the garments industry of Bangladesh.
It can clearly be deduced from the information provided in the case that the overall
industry is facing multiple challenges – that can be summarized properly in a
PESTLE analysis. Since it talks extensively about the overall industry’s aspects, it is
best to efficiently conduct a PESTLE analysis to identify the macro level factors of
the RMG sector of Bangladesh.
2. Information Usage: When we are working in respect to an entire industry, we
consider it’s political, legal, social and other external factors to properly work out a
plan that can best fit the industry. The understanding of the challenges it’s facing are
crucial in terms of generating quality strategies to combat future losses. In this regard,
all of the information available in the mentioned case provides a strong backbone to
conduct a PESTLE analysis and generate strategies that can benefit companies
(within the industry) and the industry itself to augment realistic solutions.
3. Multilateral Factors: The case provides extensive information about the government
initiatives taken after the accidents occurred in the garments sector of Bangladesh,
losses generated that affected the economic level of the country, socioeconomic
change imposed by the industry, work of technology to obtain better international
buyers (moving the economy’s wheel), negative implications on the environment
imposed by the factories and all the legal factors that cater to the industry. All of
these factors make up the stairs of the PESTLE analysis and provides further
justification to conduct the analysis over the industry.
4. Understand Foreign Implications on the Industry: The case provides some crucial
evidence of the socioeconomic implications such as – negative publicity after the
incidents, foreign buyers seeking to run away from the blame, protests taking place,
international markets switching to different countries etc. These implications are
external factors that can provide crucial insights about where our economy is headed
and what measures to take at this very moment to sustain. Conducting a PESTLE
analysis helps in efficiently summarizing these external factors and act promptly.
5. Generate Alternatives for Betterment: Conducting a SWOT analysis on the case
would only highlight the factors of a single company (which can be taken as just an
example of the overall situation pertaining). However, conducting PESTLE analysis
provided an edge to understand why the industry coordinator and the government
took drastic steps to provide incentives to the needy ones. This further helps us to
identify which other alternatives they could have taken for further betterment.
6.
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PESTLE Analysis
POLITICAL
1. Immediate after Tazreen Fire incident and tragic collapse of Rana Plaza, the
Government has taken various steps to improve overall workplace safety and
Compliance.
Though RMG sector of Bangladesh has achieved the second spot for the highest
number of garments exporter, but it has a lot of problems. The major problems
faced by RMG sector currently is the lack of safety in working place and working
conditions for the millions of garments workers. It’s become a great challenge for
the upcoming financial year of Bangladesh. Another important one is political
stability.
It’s a huge responsibility for the government of Bangladesh to ensure working place
safety in all the garments manufacturing factories. If not done properly the foreign buyers
will refuse to place order here, which will be a massive blow for RMG sector of
Bangladesh.
2. The government of Bangladesh, BGMEA and BKMEA, with the support of

global brands and international development partners, will be able to ensure
the safety of the RMG
The Government of Bangladesh and the International Labour Organization have

launched a major initiative including a new better Work programme aimed at
improving working conditions in the ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh.
The Government, through an accelerated process, also upgraded the Directorate of
Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) to a Department with 993 staff
out of which 575 are inspectors.
Political stability creates a negative impact on RMG sector of Bangladesh. If it continues,

it will be a massive blow to destroy our most valuable sector. So, political leaders should
come out immediately to solve such kinds of problems industry and maintain the
momentum of socio-economic development in the country.
3. New wage structure has been constructed based on the inflation rate, living
costs, country’s economy condition and strength of the sector in paying the
settled wage.
The Government has declared the minimum wages for the workers of the
readymade garments industry with an increase of 77% from the previous one. It has
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been implemented since 01 December 2013. Now the minimum wage of garments
workers is Tk 5300/- which is about US$68. The Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 has
been amended on 16th July 2013 to ensure workers’ safety, welfare and rights and
promoting trade unionism and collective bargaining.
It’s a prime duty for the government to provide a perfect working place for the
readymade garments sector of Bangladesh which has given economy a strong footing,
created jobs for millions of people, especially for women, lifted them from the state of
chronic poverty and given them a magnificent life.
4. The Government engages in the integrated national action plan on fire safety
and structural integrity in the RMG sector for the betterment in the long-run.
In line with the Plan of Action ILO has been implementing a project of $24.5 million
under the Ministry of Labour & Employment. A Tripartite National Plan of Action
on Fire Safety and Structural Integrity in the RMG Sector was adopted with the
assistance of ILO. The National Occupational Health and Safety Policy have been
adopted by the Government in 2013 to ensure workers‟ safety, welfare and rights
and promoting trade Unionism and collective bargaining.
With challenges on one side, a more glittering future is waiting for the ready-made
garment industry of Bangladesh on the other side. Given the dominance of the RMG
industry in the overall economy of Bangladesh, it is predominantly essential to protect
this sector. Rather than basking in the glory and work hand in hand to retain sustainable
growth and competitive edge of this industry.
5. After the massive fire incidents in Tazreen fashion house the company it didn’t
actually take any specific initiative to serve the victims but all the victims and
their families were compensated by the government and also the industry.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over Taka 2.58 crore to the families of 43 of
the 112 garment workers in Tazreen Fashion. The money was given to the families
Taka 6 lakh each at the Prime Minister's Office. The amount needed for the families
of all the 112 dead workers will total Taka 6.72 crore. And also Taka 6 lakh given to
each family or Taka 2 lakh came from the Prime Minister's Relief and Welfare
Fund and Taka 1 lakh each from the labour and employment ministry.
The government along with the global retailers and national and international
organizations has been making sincere efforts to ensure lasting improvements in working
conditions at garment factories and avoid recommence of any Tazreen like tragedy
because this was an eye-opener for all.
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ECONOMIC
1. Bangladesh has more than 4,500 garment factories, which employ over four
million workers, many of them young women.
In Bangladesh, the majority of workers of RMG sector are women. Women are not
kept confined within the four walls of kitchen only to cook. They are now incoming
which has changed their contribution in family and social decision making. The
industry is crucial to the national economy as a source of employment and foreign
currency.
The economy of Bangladesh is significantly dependent on agriculture. But it is great

news for the country that, (RMG) sector of Bangladesh has risen as the biggest earner of
foreign currency. This sector creates about 4.2 million employment opportunities and
contributes significantly to the GDP. Readymade garments (RMG) of Bangladesh are
powered by young, urbanizing, workers, where most of them are women.
2. Negative media coverage after each incident by international media (such as

BBC & Washington Post) poses extensive pressure on the industry and
international buyers shift their orders to different countries which poses a
severe economic loss.
RMG sector in Bangladesh from the year of 2000-2014 incurred a loss of BDT
8,997,426,164. The majority of Bangladesh’s ready-made garment exports go to
Europe, but nearly 25 percent are sent to the United States.
It is integral to eradicate this issue because the RMG sector has a vision with objectives
to support the sustainable growth of the pioneer industry of emerging economies & to
create employment opportunities to strengthen the macro-economic position in the long
term.
3. Garments constitute about four-fifths of the country’s manufacturing exports,

and the industry is expected to grow rapidly.
(RMG) sector plays an important role in the total economy of Bangladesh. Now-a-
days RMG sector is a multi-billion-dollar earning business and export industry in
Bangladesh. Therefore, this sector is number one earner of foreign currency in
Bangladesh. The journey of RMG sector in Bangladesh has been started in 1980s
since then; this sector did not require for looking back. RMG sector improves our
GDP, which makes us new rising countries on the earth.
The role RMG sector in Bangladesh economy is remarkable. It’s seen that, from the last
decade, RMG sector contributes to the national economy in considerable rate. In the last
20-25 years and Bangladesh has switched to second gear from agricultural sector to
manufacturing sector.
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4. About 3.0 million people are directly related while another 20 million people
are indirectly involved in the RMG sector. According to a World Trade
Organization (WTO) report, Bangladesh ranked fourth in global apparel
exports in 2007.
RMG is the biggest export-oriented industry and earns 65% foreign currency. The
apparel industry not only producing garments for export purposes but also
contributes to our GDP through creating employment, earning foreign currencies,
and creating skilled manpower through training and development.
Here in Bangladesh, there are about 4 million people directly engaged with this industry
activity directly on the other hand one core people of the total country are engaged with
his activities. Being it is the main source of earning foreign currency and labor-oriented
industry for which this project development and increasing day by day.
5. The RMG sector t has encouraged the people, the young generation in
particular to get used to local products which ultimately saves the foreign
exchange and the current account of exports and imports.
Another success of this industry is that it has encouraged the people, the young
generation in particular to get used to local products. It is praiseworthy that despite
tough global competition the garments industry of Bangladesh has made its place in
the world market.
RMG sector of Bangladesh is proudly said to be the standalone growth-enabler of the

economy contributing significantly in the total export. The macroeconomic stability, 6%
annual average GDP growth, robust performance of remittance and export, strong foreign
currency reserve, and remarkable social and human development over the past decade –
all reflect our underlying strengths.
6. Despite a minimum wage of 18 cents an hour, tens of thousands of Bangladeshis

are willing to work for even less money.
The employment opportunities in this sector are encouraging farmers in rural areas
to discontinue farming and join the garments industry increasing their living
standards and purchasing power as it stimulates the development in other key
sectors of economy and contributes to launce of business firms like Bank, Insurance,
Transport, Logistic, Communication process, buying house, liaison office, money
laundering etc.
Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. With the
increase of population employment opportunities is not creating accordingly. So a large
number of its population is to remain jobless. But the growth of RMG sector have created
job opportunities for more than 6 million people directly and about 30 million more
indirectly.
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SOCIAL
1. Since the workers are cheap in Bangladesh it is argued the garment workers
have a standard of living below par.
This is because the garment workers were given exceptionally low salary and it was
impossible to fulfill all their needs with that salary. to have a better and standard
life for them because that amount of salary was not enough as a result, they had a
very low standard of living and they also lived below par. However, they at least got
job and salary instead of being unemployed.
Based on statistics, the inflation rate is high in Bangladesh and in 2013 it was 7.5%,
which was comparatively higher than the following years after that. So, with that amount
of salary they could not have a particularly good standard of living. However, they got a
better life even with low wages than they would get without the job.
2. The Readymade Garments sector has brought an excellent shift in the

demography of the workforce by providing employment to the women.
Bangladesh had a society that was very conservative and even now it is the case in
some parts of the country. Women were expected to be housewives and if someone
from rural area had to work, they worked as a maid. It was kind of a stigma in the
society that women would work, and it was highly disregarded.
The Readymade Garments industry welcomed and provided these women works and they
no longer had to become housewives or house maids. They now have an opportunity to
have an income of their own and hence be more empowered and independent. This is
how the garment industry brought a demographic shift and completely changed the
workforce of Bangladesh.
3. The employees did not get any social recognition, which made them feel like
they are not part of the organizations that are running in the industry.
The workers in Tazreen factory complained about the bad workplace condition and
about the fire but the employers or supervisors did not take it into consideration. All
these made the workers had no sense of belongingness.
There was an exceedingly high gap between the employers and employees in the garment
industry. The workers were expected to only work without demand and complain. They
also got extraordinarily little or no facilities. All this made them feel like they are not part
of the organization.
4. The mindset of the young people of Bangladesh has been changed due to the
contribution of Garment Industry.
Another social impact that the garment industry of Bangladesh has brought for the
young generation is the change of mindset. Previously, the younger generation was
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more into buying foreign products. But due to the advancement of garment sector,
improved quality of local products and availability they are now keener towards
local garments products. Additionally, the younger generation due to the boom in
garments sector got to have many jobs as a result these people got more jobs and did
not have to think about leaving the country.
The improved economic activity in the garment industry generated new jobs that attracted
a huge number of younger generations to pursue career in this sector and remain in
Bangladesh. Additionally, increased consumption of local product aided in the economy
of Bangladesh. This sector is also generating many investments.
5. The victims of all the garment industry accidents are suffering to survive in the
society.
Some of the victims of the garment factory accidents lost their body part and even
became paralyzed. This made them handicapped and they lost the ability to work
permanently, which is affecting them and their family. On the other hand, many
families lost their only breadwinner.
The government and the industry provided some sort of compensation to these victims
and their families but that is not enough for them to survive. For instance, the Tazreen
fashion fire accident injured 300workers and 111 died. Some for them were left
handicapped and are unable to work for lifetime, whereas some families lost their only
break winner. The government and industry compensated them but that was too low. The
government provided & lakh taka to the victims or their families this amount of money is
not be enough for them to survive even for few years leaving a broad societal gap in the
lives of those people.
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TECHNOLOGICAL
1. Bangladesh and its garment industry were not technologically so developed

compared to other big giants in the international markets.
Majority of the garment manufacturers were still using obsolete technologies

because they had to pay a high amount of money to acquire ultra-modern
technology.
During 2013, Bangladesh was not very advanced in terms of technology in any aspect.
This was also the case for the garment industry. Big giants of this industry operation in
the internal market were ahead of Bangladesh in terms manufacturing technology.
2. Adapting technologically advanced machinery increased their cost.
Even though the government has given duty free import of technology and
machinery for garments, it is increasing their fixed and operational cost.
If they could purchase it from the local market, it would have been a blessing for the
garments industry of Bangladesh. However, that is not possible because these
machineries needed to be imported as Bangladesh does not manufacture such machines.
China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Laos, and many other countries are more advanced in
technological aspects, which are helping them to reduce the cost of production.
3. The garment sector was losing their competitive advantage due to lack of
technological advancement
The technological backwardness of the garment industry of Bangladesh is making

them lose the competitive edge in the global market.
Many countries including China and India are trying to capture the international market
by their technological advantage and making Bangladesh lose their orders.
4. Bangladesh does not have high intensity machineries unlike competing

countries that are operating in the international market.
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The technologically modern machineries produce hundreds of pieces of clothing 10

times faster than human workers. Not only this reduces the cost it also leaves no
scope of human error.
This is what garment industry here in Bangladesh did not have. This yet another reason
for which Bangladeshi Readymade Garments manufacturers incurred more cost than
other countries and perhaps this is the reason why more errors takes place.
5. The garment factories did not understand the importance of having CCTV
cameras on the factory premise.
Tazreen factory had no CCTV cameras installed in there. As a result, when the fire
alarm ranged the employees were again unheard as the management did not believe
them. If there were CCTV cameras, then they could have easily monitored it and
verified if it is a rumor or the factory caught fire.
Most of the manufacturers in the garment industry in Bangladesh underestimated the

installment of CCTV cameras and continuous monitoring of them. This could prevent
accidents the control room would continuously monitor it. Additionally, if there was
CCTV camera people will fear to commit any crime such as putting the factory on fire.
6. The garment factories in Bangladesh were not digitized.
Digitalization means that all the data are stored in the data base and hence
information could be easily accessed if needed. Tazreen fashion had no digitalized
database system.
Bangladesh was not at all digitalized during that time. As a result, people could easily get
away after doing something wrong. Both employers and employees could misuse this
opportunity of not having digital data of them. This is a reason why they could easily skip
and avoid regulations and exploit the workers. And the workers could easily get away if
they have done something wrong.
7. Due to lack of implementation of technology in the country the response time

for was to slow.
In the Tazreen fashion fire accident no quick step was taken when people noticed
fire from the outside. Even the fire service took a long time to come. When they
arrived it was too late, and it took the fire fighters seventeen hours to finally
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extinguish it. By that time, a lot of people lost their lives and became injured. Only if
the response time were faster a lot of lives could have been saved.
Other countries that have advanced technologically were better and faster in terms
response time. Whenever any disaster or accidents took place in their garment factories
rescue team and the fire fighters reach within minutes whereas Bangladesh's lack of
implementation of technology everywhere makes the response time extremely slow.
LEGAL
1. In terms of legal aspect Bangladesh Garments get a lot of support from

Government.
The Government of Bangladesh always encourages the garment industry by its

support in terms of legality most of the time.
That is why many companies have been established here. However, the recent fire in
some notable garments companies has drawn the sight of the government. It has
increased some legal and compliance issues.
2. The government set minimum wage rate in 2013 for garment workers.
Before 2013 the workers of the garment industry were exploited as there was no
minimum wage rate.
But after the Tazreen Fashion fire accident wages the Government declared minimum
wages for them with an increase of 77% from the previous wage rate.
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3. RAJUK should have strict building codes to give permits to building.

The building where the factory of Tazreen fashion was situated was illegally made
because they had permission to build 3 story buildings but instead they built 9
floors.
The Government should make RAJUK more stick in terms of giving permits and
monitoring the implementation of building codes.
4. Anyone harming the reputation of RMG industry should be strictly punished.

Many people tarnish their competitors by contributing to a lot of conspiracy against
them. Arson, Robbery, murder, kidnapping have become extremely normal for the
businessmen who wants to earn money by any means. These people also mostly
belong from crime families as well.
Since, this industry is contributing to the GDP of Bangladesh immensely; strict

punishment should be given to any citizen who causes harm to the industry as these
incidents ruin the goodwill of Bangladesh garments industry globally.
5. Bangladesh Labor Act, 2006 has been amended in 2013 to ensure workers’
safety.
Previously, there was a lack of monitoring and licensing policies and authority
regarding safety and working environment.
After 2013 the Government took various steps including an amendment to the
Bangladesh Labor Act 2006 to ensure workers’ safety, welfare rights and also for
promoting trade unionism.
6. Many new policies were made in favor of the workers to protect them
More actions were taken in assistance of ILO such as National Occupational Health
and Safety Policy and annual Inspection Plan Tripartite National Plan etc.
These policies were for Fire Safety, Structural Integrity and Assessment on structural
Alliances to protect the workers of the garment industry.
ENVIRONMENTAL
1. Bangladesh’s garment and textile industries are polluting the water by

contaminating it.
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The garment factories use many materials such as toxic chemicals and colors for
textiles. These are later dumped into the water, which is polluting it especially in the
large industrial areas of Dhaka.
Not only that, people living nearly face a lot of health issue for drinking contaminated
water that is cause by those toxic chemicals and colors. All these are also creating a
strong and bad smell that is hard to endure for those people. This is something very
wrong as they should consider running a business without harming the waster that is not
available in abundance.
2. The garments industry produces a lot of waste, if a proper waste

management is not implemented then it will not only contaminate air and soil
along with water.
In the production process the garment factories produces a vast amount of wastes.
These wastes are then dumped into water or soil. Not only that, these contaminate
the air as well, along with water and soil. As a result, proper actions should be taken
to combat this problem.
They can try to have a better waste management and perhaps use these wastes to create
energy so that these do not need to be dumped and the environment will be saved too.
3. They consume a good amount of fuel that is a nonrenewable resource they

should instead use renewable energy to produce electricity.
To run the machineries and the garment factory they require a huge among of fuel.
For example, they need Oilton fuel boilers to generate steam, as well as liquefied
petroleum, gas, coal, and city gas. Additionally, they also need synthetic fibers like
polyester which dominate of 65% of fabrics used.
These are all nonrenewable resources. As a result, garment industries in international

marketing are producing renewable resources as an alternative of using the nonrenewable
resources. This was something Bangladesh did not even think during 2013 and hence this
aided in further negative goodwill in the global market for the Bangladesh garment
industry.
4. They used plastic bags for packaging which were later dumped in landfills.
Plastics that are also known as polythene bags were commonly used in Bangladesh
garment industry and it is one of the most important things as well for them. This is
because Bangladesh is a country with high humidity and these plastic bags were
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used to contain garments to keeping that garments intact and dust, dirt, or moisture
free.
Where the whole world was against the use of plastic bags as it is non-biodegradable
Bangladesh lagged in this aspect as well as they did not care to use biodegradable bags to
save the environment like competing countries. As a result, they should make efforts to
ensure that they are not harming the environment and providing sustainable value to
protect the environment
5. Lack of any authority or policy to save the environment and being involved
in philanthropic activities in the Bangladesh garment industry.
Despite of the presence of The Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and

Environment Foundation (OSHE) the garment manufacturers were not working for
the welfare of environment and were causing pollution. The Bangladesh garment
sector was visibly less or barely involved in Corporate Social Responsibility
activities to save the environment and ecology.
The garment industry that were operating in global scale were highly involved in
Corporate Social Activities, where Bangladesh did not heed to protect their own workers
and protecting environment was something they did not bother for. However, getting
involved in Corporate Social activity and philanthropic activities will increase their cost,
which could be another reason why they tried to ignore these activities. However, they
did not understand to survive in the long run in the international market this is something
they cannot avoid for long.
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MANAGEMENT AGENDA
Issue 1: The management is looking forward to monitoring the infrastructure

development and ensuring fire safety and structural integrity of the factories, to
match the common standard for factory buildings.
Suggestion: The management should enlarge the implementation period into a

monitoring period as well after a restructure is permitted for each factory. So that they
can ensure that the improvements are being done by experienced workers and common
standards are properly followed and maintained throughout the operations.
Expectation from the workers: The workers are expected to report any discrepancies in
the promised work environment and the work situation they are provided instead of
working there for small incentives. So that the management can be on top of any
corruption & deceptive ideas of the owners and ensure long term safety for the workers.
Issue 2: Government has already amended Bangladesh Labor Act, 2006 in 2013 that
works in ensuring health and safety measures of workers and gives them the right to
negotiate with their employers.
Suggestion: Implementation of the law and ensuring that factory owners properly follow
the legal regulations would be the next step to make the amendments
worthwhile. Employers might not want to let the workers form a union fearing that the
resistance can harm the productivity. It should be properly conveyed that this step will
only boost up the communication bridge between employers and workers.
Expectation from the workers: The workers are expected to take advantage of the legal
amendments and form registered trade unions so that when in the time of need they can
put forward their demands in front of their employers on a legal basis. This way if they
face any injustice the union can retaliate and it will not be deemed illegal.
Issue 3: Government and BGMEA are donating money through trust funds and
providing rehabilitation opportunities to the disaster affected workers and their
families.
Suggestion: This is a short term help process of a bigger problem which needs to be
recognized by the management for the long term success of the industry. Only money
may not be the way out of hardship for the disaster affected workers and their families.
They will need proper counseling and training to survive in the world with their
unfortunate shortcomings.
Expectation from the workers: The workers are expected to work with the management
by forming cooperative labor unions and collectively work to improve the health and
safety measures in different garment factories. They are also expected to negotiate a
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proper benefit program which will help them and their families if they ever fall victim to
any disaster. This way both the management and government will know how to properly
assist the workers in the long run.
Issue 4: Besides improving the internal safety measures, the government is also
willing to negotiate with the foreign buyers regarding increases in price for apparel
products.
Suggestion: The government should work on price increase so that the infrastructure
improvement costs do not become a burden for the owners only. It will help the owners
to accelerate the improvement of the factories without incurring massive losses. It will
also force the factory owners to be compliant with asking for the right price and paying
the right wages to their workers.
Expectation from the workers: The workers are expected to not compromise with
neither money nor the work safety that they deserve from their employers. It will
persuade the foreign buyers to pay the right price for the exceptional quality of products
our workers generate. In any case if they are forcefully paid a lower wage than promised
they are expected to make formal complaints through the registered trade unions in their
factory.
Issue 5: The management has exponentially expanded the Directories of Inspection
for Factories and Establishment to ensure regular inspections and improving
inspection policy.
Suggestions: The management should give proper training to the inspectors and maintain
an internal audit as well to keep them on the right track to avoid corruption in the factory.
Unannounced inspections can also be made so that the owners keep the factories at its
optimum level at all times.
Expectation from the workers: The workers are expected to help the inspectors during
regular inspections and be cooperative in providing truthful information about their
workplace safety and health options that they get from their employers. The workers are
expected to not make any health and safety sacrifices just to get extra cash for one day,
instead they are expected to focus on their safety for the future of their family.
Issue 6: The Government is trying to control the negative publicity regarding the
factory disasters and highlight the reasons behind the incidents.
Suggestion: The government should have a proper communication channel with foreign
news outlets to verify the real and false news that might be circulating in the world. Also
the government should find out the group of people who are constantly leaking false and
played up news to the international media.
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Expectation from workers: Government expects that both the worker and employer
party stay clear of sharing any internal news that might cause a negative effect of the
country’s economy. They also expected to share any concerns that they might have
regarding the industry with the government officials who monitor this industry in order to
make a better communication outlet amongst the parties.
Issue 7: The management is looking to incorporate a ‘No Redirection Policy’ for the
factories and sellers.
Suggestion: The management should incorporate a policy where they will not be allowed
to redirect the production to another factory. If any work is redirected the buyers should
be made aware and the buyers will be accountable for inspecting the factory before
placing any order. This way the foreign buyers will be held accountable as much as the
factory owners are held accountable for the production process and labor laws.
Expectation from workers: The workers are expected to do the job in the proper work
environment instead of working from a lowly managed factory in order to save
production cost. They should also report any illegal redirection of the work that they were
supposed to do/not do. This way they can ensure that they are doing what they are paid to
do.
Issue 8: The government has increased the wages by 77% and trying to educate
workers on how to properly handle the factory machines.
Suggestion: The government should take cautious steps to create a better understanding
among illiterate workers on how to properly operate the machines. For this, skill
development trainings solely for the workers can be offered where every factory owners
will have to send their workers for training. At the same time the government should
ensure that the employers are paying the minimum wage set by the government.
Expectations from workers: The workers are expected to participate in the training
sessions to gain knowledge about the machines so that they do not fall victim to any
unfortunate accidents in their workplace. They are also expected to provide feedback on
their current wages so that the government can improve their situation by other means.
Issue 9: The foreign buyers often reject to pay after any disaster happens and do not
take responsibility of not verifying if the factories are maintaining proper
regulatory policies.
Suggestion: The factory owners should do proper paperwork before signing any deal
with foreign buyers regarding payment options and probable disasters. They should also
host a proper factory visit for the representatives of the buyers to ensure that they are
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following the rules and laws regarding workplace environment and mention it in the
agreement.
Expectations from workers: The workers are expected to participate in the signing of
the agreement through the trade union and be aware of the buyers and terms and
conditions of the deal. They are also expected to speak up if any part of the agreement
puts their deserving interests in harm’s way.
Recommendation & Implementation 1

 What is the problem?
Negative media coverage after each incident by international media outlets such as BBC
& Washington Post started posing extensive pressure on the industry and international
buyers shifted their orders to other countries which adversely impacted on the goodwill.
 What is the Recommended Solution?
Our recommendation is that there should be a specific policy for handling the media to
deal with the negative campaigns regarding the ready-made garment industry.
 Justification of recommended solution?
If the management doesn’t take proper measures then it will fail to progress smoothly and
this will create hindrance in the ongoing process of the organization affecting the workers
efficiency significantly.Furthermore, the ready-made garment industry is now at the
booming stage, but there is a lack of proper branding and the goodwill of the industry
will be impacted heavily due to negative media influence if not taken into account at the
right time.
 How would you implement your recommended solutions?
The management should pay attention to the issues happening and the PR team should
formulate strategies and focus on the process accordingly, maintaining the good relation
and image with every possible stakeholders.
 Who would conduct the Implementation Process/Progress?
The management or governing body of the management should give instruction to its HR
department to appoint proficient PR team and train them accordingly to perform specific
activities to keep the image unharmed and maintain an acceptable liaison with the media
both inside and outside the country
 Where would you Implement?
The recommendation should be implemented and managed by the Department of Public
Relations & External Affairs of the organization for ensuring and protecting the goodwill.
The implementation requires to be done on an integrated level among both internal and
external channels.
 When do you intend to begin?
The implementation should be done as early as possible for the betterment of the
organization.
 What is your expectation on your recommended solution?
Our expectation would be, being successful in branding the unprecedented success of
Bangladesh’s RMG industry and create a united industry after the Tazreen Fashion Fire
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Tragedy and Rana Plaza incident to stop anyone from spreading false rumours. The silent
revolution for environmentally friendly industrialization is of utter importance. In doing
so, we will be able to overcome our image crisis if we become united against the negative
propagandas.
 Cost-Benefit Analysis
The cost of this recommendation would be the expenses of hiring effective PR Team and
tackle the media houses. As a result, the benefit will be the proliferated goodwill in the
global marketplace and the ability to disseminate proper information among media
outlets by scrutinizing them thoroughly with the help of the PR Team & External Affairs.

Most of the workers working in the RMG industry do not have any formal education
regarding production or manufacturing. Most of the female workers learn to make clothes
and operate machines by working in the factories. It has harmed the efficiency of the
companies and also increased the production cost as most factory owners have to train
them.
Our recommendation is that interested workers avail proper training and idea about
production and operating machines through participating in government provided training
sessions and opportunities before joining a factory as a worker.
 Justification of recommended solution?
If the management doesn’t hire properly trained workers they will fail to produce
smoothly and this will negatively affect the efficiency of the production, quality of the
product and continue to increase costing because of the independent training sessions.
The management should hire workers who have prior training or knowledge of the work
and can operate the machines from beforehand. As a result they will not have to spend
time and money on training them.
The government should push the training programs in rural areas from where most of the
workers come from so that they are aware of the opportunities and importance of being
trained in this industry. The HR Department of the factories should also set experience
requirements while hiring workers and take proper tests to verify their skills.
The recommendation should be implemented and managed by the HR Department of the
organizations for hiring properly trained workers. The implementation needs to happen
during the recruitment and selection process of the workers.
The implementation should be done as early as possible for the betterment of the
organization.
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Our expectation is to have a more efficient workforce who knows how to operate
technical machines and work under pressure. We expect that the interested workers avail
the training and gain experience in working in the RMG industry before joining any
factory as new and inexperienced workers often slow down production and depreciate the
quality of the products.
 Cost-Benefit Analysis
The cost of implementing the recommendation would be 1800-2500 BDT per person
from the government’s side for training the workers and the cost of hiring trained workers
in house will be from the companies’ perspective.
This implementation will benefit both companies and workers as the factories will be
able to manufacture on optimum level on a time efficient manner and the workers will get
a better job security due to their training, skill and experience in the production sector.

Lack of sound freight transportation systems, not abiding by standard rules of

transporting goods and workers mishandling container on port of Bangladesh have
increased the production cost in the RMG sector which has ultimately forced the
companies to skip safety and health measures of the employees’ working situation.

To reduce the cost of production, standards of transportation and container handling
measures will be revised and workers will be abiding by the new set of rules firmly.
 Justification of recommended solutions?

Global measures have compelled different countries to decrease cost of production and
international buyers will quickly shift to new sources of production, if the cost of
production in Bangladesh keeps increasing at this proliferating rate.

The garment manufacturers will provide new directory to the employees and monitor the
employees’ behavior. Consequently, if employees are not abiding by the laws strictly,
they will shift measures rapidly to ensure that there is minimum loss in production.

Management will create a new directory and send it to the garment manufacturers as a
new set of standards. The garment owners will implement it in their respective premises.

The supervisors will implement the measures of communicating the new set of rules,
monitoring workers’ measures and providing rapid feedback in order to generate
sustainable profits. They will be agile in implementing the solution proficiently.
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The recommendation should be implemented as soon as possible after the board
generates a new code of conduct for all workers within the industry.

Our expectation is to see a reduction in the cost of production through minimizing
maverick costs. Consequently, we expect to see a surge of new orders from the buyers.
Even after the global pressure through external competition, Bangladesh’s garment
industry is producing top quality garments and holding up the economy of the country.
However, it is becoming extremely difficult to negotiate with foreign buyers to not shift
their production sources to further low-cost providing countries. So, after implementing
this recommended solution, the management of the garment industry expects to see
interest of the international buyers towards the industry, more connections generated with
both Western & Eastern countries, new surge of orders with increased quantity and global
goodwill of the RMG industry of Bangladesh.
 Cost-benefit Analysis
The cost of implementing this recommendation is extremely low because these are very
short-term costs. The initial cost will be to generate new set of codes of conduct,
communicating them with the industry players. Additionally, there will be cost incurred
by the garment owners to train the supervisors (about monitoring measures) and workers
(about proper handling measures) but these costs depend on individual employee.
However, the costs are very low as opposed to the benefit generated. This initiative will
generate massive change within the production measures and reduce maverick costs to a
level that will generate much higher returns. Additionally, there will be new set of orders
and economical benefit for the workers, garment owners, industry and the country at
large – due to the fact that low costs are going to attract more buyers and more proficient
buyers who will establish a sustainable relationship with our industry.
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The fire incident of Tazreen fashion has tarnished the good reputation that Bangladesh
garment sector previously had. As a result many foreign buyers rejected to place order in
Bangladeshi factories in order to save their own skin. They also realized very few
garment factory properly practiced workplace safety for the worker and many current and
potential clients were lost.

To regain the lost goodwill globally the garment sector of Bangladesh should focus on
creating sustainable value for the people, planet, and profit that is the triple bottom line
by getting involved in philanthropic activities like producing their own renewable energy
using wastes to run some machineries in the factory so that they use less fuel that are
non-renew able resource.
 Justification of recommended solutions?

The world is becoming more concerned about the environment and its sustainability.
People want to have abundance of natural resource, healthy communities, clean air, and
nontoxic environment. So, if the garment sector of Bangladesh immediately addresses
this issue, they can easily gain back their reputation that was lost from the Tazreen
Fashion fire accident.

The garment manufacturers can use the waste they have from their production by burning
it using incinerator to produce renewable resources such as, electricity that will help to
prevent depletion of fuel that is nonrenewable resources.

To implement it the management will decide it in board meeting at first and after that
they should implement it in the factory premises.

The supervisors and workers in the factory will implement it. They are the one who will
do the waste management and run the incinerator to produce electricity and use that
electricity to run the machineries used in operating the production process.

It should be implemented as soon as possible because the sooner they start the sooner the
image of Bangladesh garment sector will be changed in the sight of international market
and hence they can attract more orders.
Page 27 of 32
HRM470_S-2

We expect the garment sector of Bangladesh to be known in the global media for a better
cause like this instead of being known to them for having unsafe workplace in the
garment industry. The garment industry of Bangladesh along with creating a bad image
has lost a lot of clients and investments. So, after implementing this recommendation the
managements of the garment industry expect to have more orders which were lost due to
the Tazreen Fashion accident. Even though this initiative may have high cost but with the
number of orders will increase and so will the profitability. These philanthropic activities
can also help them have a competitive advantage in the global market.
 Cost-benefit Analysis
The cost to implement this recommendation will not be as high as the return on
investment. They will incur cost for the incinerator and in the process of conversion of
the waste into energy. Additionally, they will need to train the workers for this procedure
and to use new machineries.
They may also incur promotional cost as well to create awareness of their activity in the
global market. This is particularly important as well because without this the clients in
international market will not be aware that Bangladesh garment sector can as well
contribute to better cause and that too for saving the environment. This may take some
time to recreate a new and better reputation, but it will be worth in the long run.
However, all these costs are not that high compared to the return they are expecting. This
initiative will be costly but in the long run it will bring more return on investment
because as soon as the clients get to know that the Bangladesh garment sector is trying to
improve their policy and maintaining international standard regarding environmental
sustainability they will start getting more orders than they got before and hence
profitability and market share will increase.
Page 28 of 32

Case 3: Tazreen Fashion Fire Accident: Course: HRM470 (Negotiation) Section: 2

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Case 3: Tazreen Fashion Fire Accident: Course: HRM470 (Negotiation) Section: 2

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HRM470_S-2

Group M Case 3_Tazreen Fashion Fire Accident

Case 3: Tazreen Fashion Fire Accident

Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed

Subject: Letter of Transmittal

Fruitfulness of the Industry

Initiatives Are Absolutely Necessary

Downfall of the Industry: A DEADLY Example

Investigation &Report Generation

Cause Analysis: Why did the innocents lose their lives?

RMG Industry & Its Miseries

Western Countries Are Affected Too

Worse Situation in The East

Industry Implements Initiatives

Government Implements Drastic Measures

International Media is Busy Again

BBC Also Had To Involve

Implications of the Fire and Similar Incidents

Justification For Choosing PESTLE over SWOT

2. The government of Bangladesh, BGMEA and BKMEA, with the support of

The Government of Bangladesh and the International Labour Organization have

Political stability creates a negative impact on RMG sector of Bangladesh. If it continues,

The economy of Bangladesh is significantly dependent on agriculture. But it is great

2. Negative media coverage after each incident by international media (such as

3. Garments constitute about four-fifths of the country’s manufacturing exports,

RMG sector of Bangladesh is proudly said to be the standalone growth-enabler of the

6. Despite a minimum wage of 18 cents an hour, tens of thousands of Bangladeshis

2. The Readymade Garments sector has brought an excellent shift in the

1. Bangladesh and its garment industry were not technologically so developed

Majority of the garment manufacturers were still using obsolete technologies

2. Adapting technologically advanced machinery increased their cost.

The technological backwardness of the garment industry of Bangladesh is making

4. Bangladesh does not have high intensity machineries unlike competing

The technologically modern machineries produce hundreds of pieces of clothing 10

Most of the manufacturers in the garment industry in Bangladesh underestimated the

6. The garment factories in Bangladesh were not digitized.

7. Due to lack of implementation of technology in the country the response time

1. In terms of legal aspect Bangladesh Garments get a lot of support from

The Government of Bangladesh always encourages the garment industry by its

3. RAJUK should have strict building codes to give permits to building.

4. Anyone harming the reputation of RMG industry should be strictly punished.

Since, this industry is contributing to the GDP of Bangladesh immensely; strict

1. Bangladesh’s garment and textile industries are polluting the water by

2. The garments industry produces a lot of waste, if a proper waste

3. They consume a good amount of fuel that is a nonrenewable resource they

These are all nonrenewable resources. As a result, garment industries in international

Despite of the presence of The Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and

Issue 1: The management is looking forward to monitoring the infrastructure

Suggestion: The management should enlarge the implementation period into a

Recommendation & Implementation 1

Recommendation & Implementation 2

Recommendation & Implementation 3

Lack of sound freight transportation systems, not abiding by standard rules of

 What is the Recommended Solution?

 Justification of recommended solutions?

 How would you implement your recommended solutions?

 Where would you Implement?

 Who would conduct the Implementation Process/Progress?

 When do you intend to begin?

 What is your expectation on your recommended solution?

Recommendation & Implementation 4

 What is the Recommended Solution?