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

A proposal unveiled this week by Walmart and the Gap aimed at improving safety for garment factory workers in Bangladesh who make the goods sold by the retailers has been met with jeers by labor and safety activists, who say the plan is badly flawed and puts profits above safety.

EHS professionals who are interested in a professional challenge – and living abroad – may want to send a resume to the steering committee of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a multi-national effort to bring about safer and healthier conditions for factory workers in Bangladesh.

Since the Rana Plaza building collapse killed more than 1,100 people in April, retailers have faced mounting pressure to improve safety at Bangladesh garment factories and to sever ties with manufacturers that don't measure up.

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.

Walmart and an industry group representing many U.S. retailers say they will not join an international pact intended to improve factory conditions in Bangladesh’s garment industry – although many global retailers have signed the agreement.

“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: