Complementarities between Operations and Occupational Health and Safety in Garments

Abstract

There is an ongoing debate in the extant literature regarding whether the relationship between occupational health and safety (OHS) and operational practices is contradictory or complementary. However, previous research has focused on companies situated in developed and highly industrialized countries. We contribute to the debate by investigating the relationship between OHS and operational practices in 50 selected garment factories in the context of a developing country (Bangladesh). We investigated OHS and operational practices in a developing country because the institutional context and the industrial tradition are different from those in developed countries, and these factors are very likely to influence how companies invest in enhancing work conditions and improving operational practices. Indeed, the main contribution of this study is that, in contrast to findings from developed countries, our results indicate that both the maturity levels of OHS and operational practices and the complementarity between them depended on plant size. In particular, large plants had higher levels of maturity and were more likely to perform well in both OHS and operational practices than small and medium plants. Based on these findings, we emphasize that, to enhance work conditions and remain competitive, small and medium companies must embrace multi-stakeholder initiatives involving international buyers, local government, and international labor. Organizations can contribute to building the capabilities of suppliers and balance the pressure of cost reduction with investment in OHS improvement.

Buyer–Supplier Role in Improving Ergonomics in Garment Supplier Factories: Empirical Evidence from the Garment Industry of Bangladesh

“…The findings of this study are partially aligned with the previous studies of [4,6,11,12,[22][23][24][25]. However, no previous scientific research investigated the buyers' and suppliers' roles in ergonomics, particularly in cross-border buyer and supplier contexts.…”

Individuals' psychosocial voice barriers in lean problem-solving teams

“…Both the theme and the specific findings are critical to address employee voice at workplace. Since global buyers increasingly rely on lean for promoting productivity and OHS improvement among suppliers from developing countries (Hasle and Vang, 2021); wrongly implemented lean often leads to severe burdens for the employees (Maalouf et al , 2021; Hoque et al , 2020; Vang et al ., 2021). We found that employees' in-role and extra-role voice perceptions influenced their inclination to speak up, whereby, in general, those who internalized an inrole perception spoke up more.…”

Sustainable waste management and organizational performance of food and beverage firms

“…Kavouras, Vardopoulos, Mitoula, Zorpas, and Kaldis (2022) posited that an accident, in its most often used definition, is defined as "any unplanned event that resulted in injury or ill health of people, or damage or loss to property, plant, materials or the environment or a loss of business opportunity" (Maalouf, Hasle, Vang, & Hamja, 2021). Historically, in the early days, work-related accidents have been regarded as a natural aspect of life.…”