Are we aware and can the industry change?

The video

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22302595

 

 

·         After watching the video at the bottom of this page it dawned on me how little the general public are aware of where their stuff comes from.

·         Is it really that surprising how unaware the consumer is anyway? The consumer is completely uneducated when it comes to where their stuff comes from, so unless the consumer researches for themselves they wouldn’t know any better.

·         Is this something that retailers and the government are doing purposely? Do these people want all this information behind closed does as in a number of cases it may ruin the company’s reputation and brand image.

·         The video also shows that the public are aware and are concerned about what goes on in other countries when they see it on the news (the Bangladesh factory incident) but this does not cross their mind when they go shopping, they are more concerned about price when put in that situation.

Bangladesh

·         Should it be down to Bangladesh to improve the working conditions over there or it is the job of the retailers sourcing from there? The people of Bangladesh are so dependent on the textile industry that it takes first place over health and safety and something needs to be done about this. The factory owners seem to have a bigger say than the government and therefore incidents like this will continue to happen. Do the government turn a blind eye? Because of the huge dependence on the industry it might be that the government are willing to disregard health and safety to keep the country as economically sound as possible.

·         How big of an accident has to happen before the way the country is run to change? Over 1000 people lost their lives in this incident, if the government don’t step up now, when will they?

·         Should the retailers take responsibility? Better communication between the retailer and the factories needs to be put in place, stronger health and safety regulations need to be implemented and visits from the retailer should be made more frequently. Until the communication is improved then standards may not change.