INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS PAGES
to engage would-be suppliers in con-
versations about why they their coun-
try of operation and product/service
category earned them a high-risk
score; that engagement may help sup-
pliers begin to consider and address
their own human rights risks.
One concern stakeholders raise about
these solutions is the risk that they
potentially encourage companies to
shun suppliers from certain countries
in the world where human rights risk is
most heightened, which may ultimately
harm workers who then see a decline
in employment opportunities. The more
companies that choose not to invest
in high human rights risk countries, the
more likely local workers in those coun-
tries are to eventually see fewer em-
ployment options.
Capacity Building and Training So-
lutions
One challenge standing in the way of
achieving broader respect for human
rights on factory floors globally is work-
ers’ lack of knowledge of their own
rights. By training supply chain work-
ers and management team members
on basic labour rights and how they
are to be respected, companies can
begin to address that challenge. Using
technology to deliver such trainings
enables companies to reach more
workers in their supply chains more
easily and more efficiently. They can
do so with confidence in the quality of
trainings being provided since they are
inherently consistent. If designed care-
fully, for example with centralized
progress tracking capabilities and in-
teractive functionality that engages
learners, these trainings can also more
effectively achieve learning objectives
than in-person trainings. Where capac-
ity building technologies include a data
tracking aspect to record completion
rates, some solutions providers have
been able to correlate that data to im-
proved productively on the factory
floor, enabling companies to make a
business case to suppliers that these
training can actually help improve their
bottom line in addition to their human
rights performance.If a training successfully provides workers with a clear understanding of their
rights and how management is supposed to respect them, risks to workers
may emerge as they begin to act upon that knowledge. Specifically, workers
who are emboldened to stand up for their rights when they feel they are experi-
encing violations may be more likely to challenge management or other power
holders. In contexts where these stakeholders feel threatened by such chal-
lenges, these workers may become more vulnerable to retaliation. Workers
may also decide to advocate on behalf of peers whose rights they feel are
being harmed without the consent of those peers, thereby potentially exposing
others to retaliation as well.
Stakeholders interviewed for this report also called out the need for building the
capacity of intermediary organizations, such as worker rights groups, to use
technology solutions in their work including for worker engagement and due
diligence support. These organizations are well placed to adopt and implement
these tools, but often lack the technical capabilities and resources to do so.
Solutions providers also have an opportunity to engage with worker rights orga-
nizations in the development of the technology tools. As one human rights
advocate interviewed for this report stated: “If there were more discussion with
on-the-ground organizations on how these tools can be more useful and action-
able for these civil society organizations, that could make the products better.”
Given all the above barriers to scaling the use of potentially impactful supply
chain human rights technologies, companies, solutions providers, civil society
and government have an opportunity to carefully examine ways stakeholders
can collectively begin to lower these barriers.
RMG Sustainability Council (RSC): The Accord
on Fire and Building Safety
Bangladesh is the second largest readymade garment (RMG) exporter with a
6.5% market share in the global marketplace, 84% of the country’s exports
come from the RMG sector. The RMG industry is now the most dominant eco-
nomic driver in the country’s industrial sector making up almost 12.36 % of the
nation’s total GDP, and employing as many as 4 million workers. Bangladesh
also remains one of the largest cotton fabric markets in Asia. There are more
than 4500 garments factories in Bangladesh exporting apparel products in the
global market.
The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (hereafter the Accord) is
a legally binding agreement between 200 brands and retailers, global trade union
federations and their local Bangladeshi affiliates. It was created in response to
the Rana Plaza building collapse in April 2013, one of the world's worst industri-
al disasters, which further exposed a severe risk for workers' lives in global
garment supply chains. The Accord seeks to implement due diligence in the
garment and footwear sector through sector collaboration, resulting in pooling
of resources, increasing leverage and increasing sector transparency.
Through the Accord, safety risks at factories producing for Accord brands are
identified and prevention measures are pursued through corrective action plans.
Signatory brands take their responsibility to ensure remediation is financially
feasible or terminate their business relationship with factories that fail to reme-
diate (responsible disengagement). The Accord has also established a safety
and health complaints mechanism for workers which has received over a thou-
sand complaints by workers and their representatives and out of the approxi-
mately 700 OSH complaints, including complaints on sexual harassment and
workplace violence, more than 550 have been resolved. To ensure that the
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