The new Center on Business and Human Rights at New York University’s Stern School of Business held its first major convening since its March 2013 opening. The conference focused on workplace safety in the garment industry of Bangladesh. Manufacturers, senior government officials from Bangladesh, US and European retailers, Western government officials, intergovernmental organizations, and experts came together to discuss potential improvements to the Bangladesh garment industry.
The topic of workplace safety in Bangladesh has been a major subject among representatives of the international garment industry and human rights experts after a series of devastating tragedies in Bangladeshi factories, including the collapse of the Rana Plaza Factory building which killed 1,129 people in April 2013 and a factory fire in Dhaka that killed over 100 people in November 2012. The tragedies have brought major US and international retailers, like WalMart, Gap, American Apparel, and J.C. Penny under fire from some consumers and government officials for failing to ensure safety for workers in the factories that manufacture their clothing.
The representatives who gathered at Stern talked about the economics of sourcing between different organizations in the clothing supply chain, regulations for the garment industry, and the role of Western organizations in ensuring workplace safety abroad. The experts also discussed attempts by intergovernmental organizations, retailers, and the government to improve garment industry regulations in Bangladesh. The Center for Business and Human Rights will prepare a report on workplace safety and lead a follow-up meeting in Bangladesh in 2014.
The Center on Business and Human Rights prepares NYU business students to face human rights challenges that could affect the operations of their future companies. More broadly, the center also considers what companies should do to respect human rights in their operations, and studies what companies have successfully done to advance human rights. The Center on Business and Human Rights is the first human-rights oriented center at a business school.
