What's changed a decade after the Rana Plaza collapse? (Rebroadcast)

WAMU 88.5 | By Haili Blassingame

Published May 26, 2023 at 2:32 PM CDT

A general view of the site where Rana Plaza garments factory building once stood is pictured on the 10th anniversary of its collapse in Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka.

On April 23, 2013, a group of garment factories collapsed in Rana Plaza near Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The accident killed more than 1,100 people and injured at least 2,500. It’s considered the deadliest accident in the history of the modern garment industry.

It’s been a decade, but the garment industry is still far from safe for workers.

Factories like the one in Rana Plaza aren’t unique to Bangladesh. And safety for these workers is not just an issue overseas.

A survey published by the U.S. Department of Labor last year found that 80 percent of Southern California garment contractors had violated one or more provisions of The Fair Labor Standards Act.

How much has changed in the decade since the Rana Plaza collapse? And what can we—consumers—do to make sure the clothes we buy aren’t made at the expense of the safety of workers?