Worker Safety

Recycling processes in the garment and footwear sector were found to carry heightened labour, environmental and governance risks, driven by widespread informality, low margins and hazardous working conditions. The analysis highlighted forced labour, child labour, unsafe facilities and criminal waste practices as material exposures within collection, sorting and reprocessing systems.

A new University of Sydney–led study shows that low-cost, sustainable cooling strategies could safeguard millions of garment workers facing extreme heat. Simulations of Bangladeshi factories revealed that reflective roofs, fans, and access to drinking water reduce core temperature and maintain productivity, offering scalable protection for an industry employing over four million people.

As global supply chains undergo legal and environmental scrutiny, Cambodia’s garment sector stands at a crossroads. Persistent labour challenges, climate shocks, and governance weaknesses threaten its export competitiveness. In this candid interview, Andrew Crawford, Research Fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies, explains why swift structural reform is essential for survival.

Inditex and Next have come under fire for rejecting a global agreement to improve wages and conditions for Cambodian garment workers. Developed over years with unions and brands, the Cambodia Agreements offer the first collective bargaining template in the industry. Critics say the refusal exposes a gap between public commitments and real action on workers’ rights.

Socially disadvantaged people are disproportionately affected by temperature extremes. A recent study explored this point in Cambodia: one of the world's hottest and most humid countries. It evidenced the extent of the heat exposure faced by workers in Cambodia and the way occupational, environmental and geographical dynamics combine to shape it. The study’s lead author, Dr Laurie Parsons of Royal Holloway, University of London, contextualises this for the country’s garment workers.

The Nike case should not be treated as an isolated scandal but as a structural failing that demands structural reform. Without enforceable standards, empowered worker representation, and legal accountability, the cycle of exploitation will persist—repackaged each time with a new corporate excuse.

Cotton production is under multi-dimensional stress in Pakistan brought about collectively by factors ranging from low yields to low government support, to outdated farming methods on many of the farms, to constant fragmentation of farmland from one generation to the next, to the palpable impact of climatic change.

Non-compliance continues to be a bane with an overwhelming 93.8% of all verified assessments of facilities including at least one and in case of SMEs it went up by 7% in 2023, according to the 2023 Impact Report of the Social and Labour Convergence Program (SLCP).

In a bid to effectively reduce traffic accidents after untold deaths and injuries while transporting workers, Cambodia is finally set to phase out the huge cumbersome flatbed trucks.

Mauritius, the latest example of the use of forced labour within company supply chains, is proof that garment workers can experience unacceptable forms of exploitation that can only be countered through sustained labour organisation.