Wal-Mart Toughens Fire Safety Rules for Suppliers after Bangladesh Blaze
A fire occurred at the Tazreen Fashions factory in Bangladesh that killed 112 workers,
which Wal-Mart sold garments through them. This resulted in Wal-Mart being criticized
for the unfortunate event that took place. Wal-Mart tried to take away the blame for
themselves by stating that the two suppliers that were using the factory during the time of
the fire, supposedly wasn’t authorized to produce their items there. This brings out the
question of ethics. Should Wal-Mart start playing the blame game on others or should they
just take fault for the incident that took place since they’re the ones that regulated the fire
safety regulations. Sure, after admitting guilt will follow with lawsuits, but companies who
are committed to doing the right thing, usually increases their reputation and create a larger
loyal customer base.
Others such as David Schilling, program director at the Interfaith Center for Corporate
Responsibility, “praised the move, saying, “It’s an important step toward increased
transparency and accountability of suppliers.” Some people believe that Wal-Mart is doing
a good thing by subjecting suppliers to termination if an undisclosed factory is being used,
also known as, “the zero tolerance policy”. I believe they are finally taking the right
direction to passing a new regulation that suppliers need to follow, but they should still
admit fault to the incident.
Wal-Mart is also focusing on toughening the fire safety requirements that were already in
place. A fault that Wal-Mart committed before the Tazreen factory fire was how there were
