For the first time in any supply chain anywhere in the world, Bangladesh’s garment factories are receiving independent, competent inspections, hazards are being identified and corrected

The U.S. government is soliciting ideas for improving safety standards in garment factories in Bangladesh. The Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs yesterday announced a $2.5 million competitive grant solicitation to fund improvements in the enforcement and monitoring of fire and building safety standards to better protect garment workers in Bangladesh.

“We suffer in this age from an indifference toward criminality and a callousness to catastrophe when it comes to poor and working people.” That quote comes from retired Princeton professor Dr. Cornel West in a recent interview in the London-based newspaper The Guardian. Dr. West has been called the firebrand of American academia for almost 30 years.

The death toll from the Bangladesh factory building collapse rises, a U.N. report on occupational rates surprises, and OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels puts occupational health and safety into perspective in a speech on a solemn occasion. Here are the week’s top OEHS-related stories as featured on ISHN.com:

With the death toll now exceeding 350, the collapse last week of a factory building in Bangladesh helps focus attention on International Workers’ Day – May 1 -- as well as Workers’ Memorial Day and National Day of Mourning (in Canada), both of which were yesterday but continue to be observed in ceremonies this week.
 

As repercussions from the fatal Texas fertilizer plant continue to reverberate, a factory collapse in Bangladesh kills hundreds and a fuel barge explosion in Alabama critically burns three workers. Here are the week's top OEHS-related stories as featured on www.ISHN.com: