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Proliferation of Steels industry with environmental pollution

Mohammad Amir Hossen Bhuiyan

MBA, University Canada West

BUSI 601(BON-FALL-21): Ethics, CSR & Business Environment

Eric Zvaniga

November 13, 2021

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Proliferation of Steels industry with environmental pollution

In developing countries, the production of iron and steels is increasing rapidly, which is

the result of high demand. As developing countries are in the race of being developed, they

continue the constructional works to a greater extend. The benefit mostly goes to the steels

result. It grows quickly and thrives the economy.

However, the exhaust fumes emitted from the steels plant has pernicious impact on the

environment. Many organizations in this industry, take minimal care of this problem. For the

future betterment of our earth, this problem should not be overlooked and needs a solution.

PESTEL analysis of the steels industry and its environmental impact

When politically analyze steels plants are in favorable position. In Bangladesh, zero duty

on importing scrapes has been implemented. As the local scrapes are not sufficient for the

production, a considerable amount of scrapes has to be imported each year and the companies are

getting benefited. Additionally, the infrastructure of the county is improving quickly. Therefore,

the transportation cost is becoming minimal day by day. Governmental stability also helps the

organization to plan for a longer time. However, due to policy it takes longer time for the

companies to get the raw materials in hand. Now a day, Bangladesh has started exporting steels

in other Asian countries, such as China and India. In exporting also it takes longer time to send

the products, which may increase customer dissatisfaction and reduce demands.

In economic point of view, the industry was growing rapidly for last hundred years. However, in

the year of 2019, the pandemic hit the economy very hard. There was lack of economic activity

that leads to liquidity crises in the banking sector. The steels plant owners could not take

adequate loan at that time and could not expand their business. Moreover, the sale volume went
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down. Many of the employers maintain a break-even point to sustain. Another, issue here is, the

concurrent technology used in developed countries is expensive to buy. Therefore, the efficiency

is not achieved like as developed countries.

In socio-cultural view point, many steels companies have contributed a lot to their employees

and society. For instance, Bangladesh Steels Re-rolling Mills, BSRM has become employers of

choice in Bangladesh by providing employee benefits, other than salary, such as loan facilities,

accommodation help, employee’s children education plan, employees executive health check-up

plan and so on. The company has also build educational institutions under its CSR activity.

However, safety becomes a grave concern in this sector. The Accident Frequency Rate (AFR)

seems high in countries, such as Bangladesh.

Technologically, the steels sector in developing countries, are not in good position. Induction

furnace is used still in developing countries whereas earth furnace is used in developed countries.

Some of the companies want to bring the new technology; however, it does not work as the labor

market is not skilled on new technology. Therefore, expatriates need to hire for the set-up,

control and maintenance.

The striking factor that the steel industry is mostly concerned with is the environment. Exhaust

fumes from the plant are often emitted in the open air in the developing countries. Carbon di

oxide is released without any purification measurement taken. Human, an element of eco system

are getting affected by the enormous ailments. It is often found that the employees working in

steel plant are suffering from long term diseases such as bronchitis, silicosis, lung carcinoma,

asthma. Some of the organizations are implementing the Air Pollutions Control (APC) system to

purify the fumes before releasing into to air. However, it is really costly to implement and
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maintain the APC system. In developing countries, the companies cannot afford the investment

needed.

Legal aspect is not strong enough to make the employer to have a corrective action plan before

releasing in the environment. In Bangladesh, department of environment (DOE) is looking after

the environmental issues. However, they are not vibrant enough. Additionally, the child labor is

also found in the steel plant.

From ethical point

Ethics is the set of principle that tells us to continue business with no harm to the

stakeholders. However, the steel plants are not well concerned from ethical point of view as they

are now helping in less damage of environment and the human being. Only some are found

having environmental management system.

Response of the issue, as we want the sector to flourish in developing countries, it needs

governmental policies that will allow less processing time in importing raw materials and

exporting the final goods. Child labor has become a common phenomenon in the name of

development. However, without the legal law implementation, this issue cannot be triggered. The

department of labor of government needs to take initiatives to control child labor.

The plant owners, on the other hand, need to implement the safety measurement for the workers

working inside with all necessary type of personal protective equipment (PPE) and building a

safer culture. Many organizations are yet to establish a safety department. Government may

make ISO 4500 standards mandatory to all the steels plants and monitor accordingly.
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The responsibility in environmental aspects needs not to be overlooked as it plays a crucial role

for the steel industry. Air pollution control system has to be implemented at the very starting

point of steel production. Afterwards, they should make a recycle plan with the dusts form the

APC system. There are guidelines in ISO 14001, which is easy to follow and implement.

Perhaps, most importantly, the customers need to be aware. As the profit helps the organization

to grow, organization will try to follow the customers will. Therefore, if the customers check the

standards of the plant before buying, it would bring an effective solution.

To conclude, steel plants are now considered as the hope for the developing countries

and it needs to be expands with proper handling and standards. So that, the companies can grow

without harming the eco-system.

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References

Morisson, Mecca. 1989. Managing Uncertainty. New York: Agathon Press

Shiue I.Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2016 Dec;23(24):25494-25500. doi: 10.1007/s11356-016-
7867-7. Epub 2016 Oct 24.

https://www.thedailystar.net/business/kunming-steel-talks-bsrm-invest-22b-1403413

http://bilsbd.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Workplace-Situation-Report-2015-.pdf