The Rana Plaza Disaster
On April 24, 2013, an 8‑storey building named Rana Plaza collapsed killing 1000 workers and injuring 2600. The Rana Plaza collapse came just 5 months after a deadly fire in another factory, the Tazreen Fashions Factory, in 2012, where at least 112 workers died. At the time of the collapse, the factory was producing clothing for Tommy Hilfiger, Zara, Gap, Benetton, the Children’s Place, Joe Fresh and several other UK and Spanish retail chains. Unfortunately, despite being the worse yet, the Rana Plaza collapse is just one of the several factory fires that took place before and after the Plaza’s collapse, killing several people. The Rana Plaza disaster represents a moral and legal failure by both state and non-state actors to protect the rights and well-bring of children against exploitive business practices.
An architectural engineer’s break down of the Rana Plaza structure summarizes the events leading to the collapse. The Plaza and surrounding areas experienced a power outage earlier in the day, something not uncommon for the area. The Plaza’s backup generators were activated, sending vibrations through the building. It was noted that the vibrations from the generators were noticeable stronger than typical, which caused the building to shake violently. Before workers could escape the structure, the building began to progressively fall from the top down with each floor collapsing on top of the other. As the floors collapsed, it overloaded the floor below leading to further collapse, trapping several thousand people inside a network of concrete and steel.
The Plaza’s structure was an 8‑storey reinforced concrete structure, but it was originally designed as a 4‑storey building. It was built primarily for retail stores but was instead occupied by garment factories. It is revealed that the owner of the Plaza, Mohammad Sohel Rana, had political connections to acquire illegal permits for construction. The owner had also bribed government officials to approve construction and to ensure the building either passed inspections or that inspections were not carried out. Adequate enforcement of regulations, codes and inspections would have revealed that evacuation routes were not adequate for safe evacuation. It would have also revealed that the land was unsuitable for a multi-story construction and the loads placed on the building were not within the design criteria. However, local authorities had previously ordered the building to be evacuated after cracks appeared in the walls earlier in the week. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association had asked factories in the building to suspend work, but locals claimed the garment factory owners ordered workers back into the building, using intimidation tactics on those who opposed.
Many point to the Bangladeshi political climate which allows for corruption to occur within the garment industry, for regulations, codes and inspections to be bypassed. With a financial stake in the success and profits of garment manufacturing, government and parliament officials vote against stricter laws and regulations to ensure the health and safety of workers and to prevent the use of child labour. The industrial sector has played an increasingly large role in the development of Bangladesh’s economy, it relies on a large cheap labour force, but majority of the people in Bangladesh have yet to benefit from the country’s economic growth.
Corporations and enterprises must also share the blame and responsibility for the collapse that injured and killed thousands of garment industry workers, which has and does include child labourers. A lack of regulation or weak laws may enable lackluster corporate social responsibility efforts, allowing corporations to turn a blind eye to the moral and illegal labour conditions occurring within their own subsidiaries or within the suppliers with whom they contract with. Corporations, fashion companies and the industrial sector however may be argued to have more active knowledge of the labour conditions because in order to satiate consumer demand and business profits manufacturing is moved not only to countries where regulations are not enforced and worker safety is not a priority, but also to where working in the factories provides opportunity as well as abuse for marginalized people. Such is the characterization of the fast fashion industry where need and demand is created by corporations in an ever revolving circle and where the distribution of wealth and profits is inequitably concentrated in the hands of few. Billion dollar corporations cannot argue that they do not have the resources to comply with and ensure national and international standards against exploitive labour practices.
International Responses to the Disaster & Corporate Responsibility
Shortly after the collapse, a victim compensation trust fund was established by the International Labour Organization through which brands and retailers who had been buying from the Rana Plaza factories can work towards compensating victims for loss of income, medical treatments and coping with long term injuries. At that time some retailers had made initial contributions, but many other brands and retailers had yet to put any money towards compensation. The Clean Clothing Campaign, a global network of organizations holding brands accountable for abusive and exploitive industrial and labour practices, created a list of brands linked with factories in the Rana Plaza building, whether or not they donated, and an estimated amount of donations.
When victims and/or their relatives attempted to hold corporations, brands and retailers accountable through legal action, courts dismissed most cases. Cases against American brands JC Penny, The Children’s Place and Walmart, were dismissed based on statute of limitations. The case against the Canadian brand Joe Fresh, owned by the Loblaws corporation, was dismissed because the court found that Loblaws did not owe a duty of care to the garment workers and thus could not be held liable for any negligence in the construction and operation of the factories or building. The court also held that the law of Bangladesh applied and the limited contract between Loblaws and factories excluded structural inspections of the factory as part of its CSR. By applying the law of the country in which a corporation operates, and not international law or the law of the country of incorporation, corporations may be held to a lesser standard of corporate social responsibility. Using a lesser or voluntary standard of investigating and reporting on supply chains corporations may consciously avoid liability. The fragmentation of regulatory and legal standards for corporate activity allows corporations to shop around, incorporate and/or operate in countries whose legal and regulatory systems are the least burdensome and allow for the most profits.
The Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh is a legally binding agreement between brands and trade unions to work towards a safe and healthy garment and textile industry in Bangladesh. It was adopted on May 13, 2013, subjecting factories to a legal liability to ensure independent inspections of factories, fund annual safety upgrades and public reports on compliance. A strict legal liability for corporations is required to ensure high standards of inspection and compliance because corporations have illustrated that through voluntary inspection and reporting standards, and through fragmented global/international standards, the health and safety of workers and children are disregarded. The Canadian director of United Steelworkers travelled to Bangladesh and saw how even a year later human bones and scraps of clothing could be seen among the rubble. Canadian brands, such as Canadian Tire, Mark’s and Sport Chek all had a supplier code of conduct which outlined the standards expected of their vendors and suppliers, but as the Rana Plaza disaster illustrated the self-regulation and private sector/third party audits just are not working; a legal liability, strictly enforced, is needed.
The Bangladesh Safety Agreement was also established as a legally binding agreement between over 240 global brands and trade unions to ensure worker health and safety in Bangladesh’s textile and garment industry. It includes undertaking safety improvements, informing workers about their rights and responsibilities and establishing a complaints mechanism. The brands who have signed on include the Addidas Group, Aldi, Gap Inc., Mango and the Loblaws Companies.
Thank you KARA team member Eshanee Singh for your research and writing for this article
Resources for this article:
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Amnesty International – The Rana Plaza collapse and Tazreen Fashions Fire: An interview with Taqbir Huda
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2024/06/the-rana-plaza-collapse-and-tazreen-fashions-fire-an-interview-with-taqbir-huda/amnesty -
Clean Clothes Campaign – Rana Plaza: overview and campaigns
https://cleanclothes.org/campaigns/past/rana-plazacleanclothes -
ILO – The Rana Plaza disaster ten years on: What has changed?
https://webapps.ilo.org/infostories/en-GB/Stories/Country-Focus/rana-plaza.htmlwebapps.ilo -
BBC – Bangladesh factory collapse probe uncovers abuses
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-22635409bbc -
Clean Clothes Campaign – A decade since Rana Plaza: factory safety and workers’ rights
https://cleanclothes.org/news/2023/a-decade-since-rana-plaza-factory-safety-has-improved-incleanclothes -
International Accord – Bangladesh country page (Bangladesh Safety Agreement details)
https://internationalaccord.org/countries/bangladesh/internationalaccord -
Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety – official site
https://bangladeshaccord.org/internationalaccord -
Clean Clothes Campaign – Four years after Rana Plaza (PDF report)
https://cleanclothes.org/file-repository/resources-publications-four-years-after-rana-plaza/@@download/file/20170421%20Rana%20Plaza%20Four%20Years%20On.pdfcleanclothes -
Clean Clothes Campaign – Rana Plaza Three Years On: Compensation, Justice and Workers’ Safety (summary)
https://cleanclothes.org/file-repository/resources-publications-rana-plaza-three-years-on-compensation-justice-and-workers-safety/@@download/file/20160420%20Rana%20Plaza%20Three%20Years%20On.pdfcleanclothes -
ILO – Code of practice on safety and health in textiles, clothing, leather and footwear
https://www.ilo.org/resource/other/code-practice-safety-and-health-textiles-clothing-leather-and-footwearilo -
The Guardian – Bangladesh Rana Plaza factory fund finally meets target
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/08/bangladesh-rana-plaza-factory-fund-meets-targettheguardian -
Clean Clothes Campaign – Solidarity statement on the twelfth Rana Plaza anniversary
https://cleanclothes.org/news/2025/clean-clothes-campaign-solidarity-statement-on-the-twelfth-rana-plaza-anniversary
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