I recall a marketing VP saying to me some years ago that safety is a cost without a return. Meaning we don’t want to put any more money into safety than we absolutely have to.
In today’s paper, we learn that this mantra continues. “At the April 2011 meeting in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital, retailers discussed a contractually enforceable memorandum that would require them to pay Bangladesh factories prices high enough to cover costs of safety improvements.” “Specifically to the issue of any corrections on electrical and fire safety, we are talking about 4,500 factories, and in most cases very extensive and costly modifications would need to be undertaken to some factories,” they said in the document. “It is not financially feasible for the brands to make such investments.” http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-05/wal-mart-nixed-paying-bangladesh-suppliers-to-fight-fire.html Then the November 24 fire. Now we find that the buyers of the goods made in that factory are not responsible because the goods had been sub-contracted and sub-contracted again to other factories without authorization. “After the Nov. 24 fire, both Wal-Mart and Sears (SHLD) said they had fired unauthorized suppliers.” Of course. (How do you fire a supplier who was not authorized in the first place?) “Bangladesh’s labor law requires safety measures such as fire extinguishers and easily accessible exits at factories. “ Of course. The buyers of the (low cost) goods expect the government to assure workplace safety. The incremental cost of safety for buyers of garments made in Bangladesh? Zero. Fortunately, this is not the case for most of us. Regulations for safety certification mean we must spend some minimal amount on safety. Richard Nute Bend, Oregon - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <emc-p...@ieee.org> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <emcp...@radiusnorth.net> Mike Cantwell <mcantw...@ieee.org> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <j.bac...@ieee.org> David Heald: <dhe...@gmail.com>
