Background and Introduction

The modern 21^st century is the age of business and huge competition. People are trying to earn their living by making both ends meet. As per the opinion of Granlund and Lukka (2017) the employers are trying to open several vacancy for appointing the workers and helping them to earn their. However Gürbüz, ?ahin and Köksal (2014) has argued that there is a doubt over the working conditions and the workplace safety that is available for the employees. In his context it must also noted that it is the sole responsibility of the employers to make sure that the workers are getting a safe and employee friendly environment for working. Hossain and Shirazi (2018) are of the opinion that profit maximization is definitely one of the major mottos of all the business organization. However at the same time the business organizations cannot take any chance with the lives of the individuals who are actually working for them.  

A special attention must be given to the issue of the women workers. This is because in this modern day scenario women are trying their level best to meet up to the standard of their male counterparts. In other words they do not want to stay back in any case. Same was the scenario in Bangladesh few years ago. This was because the Bangladeshi garment industries were the major recruiting centers. The Bangladeshi garment industry was gaining a rapid recognition in the world market. As a result of this, a large number of women were being recruited in the Bangladeshi garment factories. However this scenario did not last longer. This success was followed b by a major accident of the garment factory. Since then the success of the garment factories has dropped down. This is mainly because after the collapse of the Rana plaza building the employees fears their lives and has dropped the idea of working in the garments factory.

Hossain et al. (2017) is of the opinion that earlier, women workers were enjoying a free and independent life as they knew that knowing the art of using sewing machine will turn out to be very beneficial for them. This is mainly because of the fact that working in the garment factory was one of the most prestigious income sources for the female workers of Bangladesh. This can be explained through the negligence of the factory owners of the Rana Plaza. Just before the day of the fatal accident they were some cracks seen on the wall of the building. However the owners did not take any active step in mending those. Mahmud and Bidisha (2018) have argued that profit maximization must not be the only outlook of the business organizations.

They have to make sure that they ate taking the full responsibility of the lives of the individuals who are working for them. Workplace safety is one of the most essential needs of a suitable working place. Christiansen (2016) has also suggested that without a proper workplace safety laws, the employees will find it very difficult to work by giving their hundred percent. The Rana Plaza incident showed the negligence of the business owners and how they ignored the safety of their employees. The huge collapse had killed about 1129 workers of the industry. Apart from The ones that were killed there were 2500 people that were injured in the accident. Otley (2016.) suggested that this is one of the most fatal accidents that have taken place in the history of the Bangladesh garment industry. This has not only turned out to be a negative impact on the lives of the employees but on the environment and the society as a whole.

Responsibility of Employers towards Employees

This clearly marked the irresponsibility of the business owners and the negligence that they have towards their workers. However it must also be noted that this must be seen as negligence on the part of the state or the Government. Saif et al. (2016) is of the opinion that the Government must make sure to do a thorough survey of all the factories and industries that is operating within the country. It is their duty to make sure that they are appointing some specialist or inspection team that wild do a thorough survey of the working condition that are prevalent in all these industries. This will surely be very helpful for checking the rate of such accidents.

The employees must also be aware about the places that they are working in. Mustafa et al. (2016) has suggested that the workers must always be aware about their fundamental rights. In other words, they must be made aware about their fundamental rights and duties. This is also because of the lack of proper training that must be given to the workers. In particular the female employees have to be educated and trained so that they can work over their loopholes.

It is a known fact that the female employees have always been subjected to a huge amount of hurdles in comparison to their make counterparts. As per the opinion of Naved et al. (2018), there is always a great discrimination done between the male and the female employees. The discrimination is done based on the technical knowhow and also the gender biasness. The female employees are usually seen as the weaker sex. It is often thought that the female workers are not a le to work at the same pace like the male workers. It is for this reason that their wages are also less than the wage given to the male employees. Prottas and Nummelin (2018) is also of the opinion that though the Government of Bangladesh is trying to keep the female employees safe from all kind of workplace hazards but there are some problems being faced at each and every level. This is mainly visible after the collapse of the Rana plaza building in Bangladesh that the Government has taking some strict safety measures. This is visible from the sharp increase in the number of female employee drop outs from the Bangladeshi garment factories.

Hahn et al. (2018) is of the opinion that prior to the Rana Plaza collapse accident it was seen that the Bangladeshi Garment business was enjoying a good position in the International cloth  business. It was also one of the biggest sources of income for the people of Bangladesh. The garment business was one of the major sources of gross national income of Bangladesh. Five years ago the total amount of income earned by the garments factory was about $30 billion every year. However after The accident of the Rana Plaza incident the income earned by the business has deceased a lot. This has also been followed by the fall in the number of the female workers as well. However it has to be noted that the sharp fall in the number of the female employees in the Bangladesh. This is not only because of the huge number of deaths that were caused in the Rana Plaza incident.

Women Workers in the Garment Industry

This is also because of the different changes that have taken place after this accident. This is mainly because of the different rules and regulations that have been set by the Government post this accident. In order to solve the safety concerns that stated growing within the Bangladeshi population after this accident, the Government introduced was like using of the machines in places of human force. In other words, the decision was to replace the human force by the automaton. This was actually a matter of major concern for the female employees. This is mainly because of the fact that the female employees are not very well versed in the usage of the machines. They are usually trained in the art of using the traditional sewing machines. So, if the entire work is transformed from that of human force to that machine or automatons it will be very difficult for the female employees to cope up with this new trend.

It is for this reason that they have to be given a proper training so that the female employees are also able to carry on with their work. As per the opinion of Andriof et al. (2017) the Government, measures are doubtlessly useful for the safety of people. However after the enforcement of these laws it has been seen that the female employees are finding it very tough to survive within this strict business environment. Apart from this, the number of machines and factories has also been reduced. This has been one of the major setbacks for the fall in the number of the female employees in the garment factories.

As the demand for the Bangladeshi garments have been reduced in the world market, there are strict laws being imposed on them. However the new changes that are taking place in these garment factories is making I very tough for the female workers. The male workers can still continue working in this condition. Many of the garment factories in the EU that used to import the clothes from the Bangladeshi industries have joined in together to sign some editions that talk about the new safety measures that are to be maintained by the garment industries of Bangladesh.

 In order to deal with these problems the employers must follow some models for ensuring workplace safety within the organization. The employers must try to provide moral support to the employees in general and particularly to the women. This is mainly because of the fact that the female employees are often under the fear of domination and threat. However it must also be noted in this context that the organizations must also try to break the societal norms and the societal biasness’s so that the female employees can restart with their professional lives. The organizations have to make sure that they are being able to provide a clean and safe job environment so that the workers can get confidence to work with all their effort. A.C. (2016) has suggested that the female employees must be given special attention because the Bangladeshi industries must take up the responsibility of empowering the female employees. Hahn et al. (2018) has suggested that it is needless to mention about the concern that the industries are taking in this modern day scenario but at the same time they must take care about the female employees as well.

Negligence towards Workplace Safety Laws

The industries must try following the method of an extensive training and development for their employees. This is one of the most important methods that can be followed by the industries in order to solve his issue. They must take the safety measures in such a way that is not harming the self confidence or the mole of the female employees. For an instance if they are trying to replace the number of manual work with that of the machine or automaton work, then they must make some provisions so that the female employees can still continue with their work. They have to conduct many workshops and seminars so that they can support the female employees morally. They have to make sure that the female employees are getting proper support to be able to cope up with all the changes that are taking place in the environment.

Ackerman’s Model is one of the models of CSR that must be followed by the companies. This is one of the earliest models that came into picture. It is essential for the industries to make sure that they are following this model in order to strike a balance between their profit maximization and also their social responsibility.  This model is mainly divided into three segments. The first says that the managers must be able to identify a social problem. The Bangladeshi garment industries must realize that though they are trying to imbibe the safety precautions by replacing the manual work with automaton, at the same time it leads to drop out of the female employees. The second phase is mainly deals with a thorough study of the issue. The companies must tale enough time and gather data in order to understand the issues. In the last phase they have to implement a solution. The Bangladeshi garment industries have to make sure that they are providing sufficient training to their female employees so that they can get to know the art of using machines.

Carol’s model is another important CSR model that argues the commonly accepted belief that industries cannot strike a balance between social and financial responsibilities at the same time. This model mainly goes by the definition of business as was suggested by Milton Friedman. This theory is in favor of the fact that the industries must carry on maximizing their profit by staying within the limits of their ethical and social responsibility. This concept can be used by the Bangladeshi garment industries. They have to realize that in order to attain the lost reputation in the global market they have to boost up their ethical responsibility as well. Hey need to identify themselves as a corporate citizen. They have to apply an employee centric approach in order to make sure that they are not neglecting their female employees just for the purpose of profit maximization. This CSR model is of the opinion that the industries must use strategies that will help them to use a money oriented way or CFP keeping in mind the CSP or the impact on the company reputation. In other words, the companies must be able to strike a balance between their profits and also keep up their social responsibility at the same time. Though there can be some or the other problems in maintaining their social responsibilities and earning profit at the same time. The Bangladeshi garment industries might feel that it is really tough for them to stay within the ethical co duct and regain their losses at the same time. However they have to work on finding out more innovative ideas that will help them to make the women employees rejoin. They have to assure a safe working place for them and maintain the infrastructural safety at the same time.

Implications of Rana Plaza Collapse

This can be done if the managers of the Bangladeshi industries conduct thorough seminars and training sessions for their women employees. This will help them to gather all the essential skills and they can use the same for improving in their professional fields. For an instance if the industry is trying to bring some organizational change like replacing human labor with that of automated machines, then they must provide thorough training for the same.

Thus, it can be concluded that the Bangladeshi garments factory has to take some strategies that will be satisfying the purpose of employees and also maintenance of the workplace safety. They have to make sure that the women employees are not feeling demotivated or discourage. In order to make them re join the garments industry, the management ha to arrange for proper training and development sessions that will help them learn the new techniques of production. It is also the duty of the Government to make sure that there is no discrimination between employees based on their gender or socio economic status.

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