The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Scripted performances? Local readings of “global” health and safety standards (the apparel sector in Sri Lanka)

Scripted performances? Local readings of “global” health and safety standards (the apparel sector in Sri Lanka)
Scripted performances? Local readings of “global” health and safety standards (the apparel sector in Sri Lanka)
Ensuring a healthy working environment in the apparel sector is advocated by various multi-stakeholder initiatives and retailers because of apparent concerns for the health and welfare of workers. As an ‘ethically sourced’ supplier in the global garment industry, the Sri Lankan industry has by and large taken great efforts to improve the provision of safety and hygiene to enhance worker welfare. The physical provisos and built environments with regard to health and safety issues are superlatively impressive in many Sri Lankan factories. Yet ethnographic fieldwork suggests that upholding this ethical code is messily enforced, with a lower prioritization of worker welfare. Consequently, in promoting ‘global’ health and safety standards, the lack of attention to existing social hierarchies and local context results in an absence of genuine commitment to labour rights – even where working conditions may seem superlatively impressive. Local enforcement of the health and safety code as it transmits across global spaces then can not be separated from inequities embedded in uneven development processes
88-108
Ruwanpura, Kanchana N.
6ac0c791-abeb-484a-b747-1ecc99d3b800
Ruwanpura, Kanchana N.
6ac0c791-abeb-484a-b747-1ecc99d3b800

Ruwanpura, Kanchana N. (2013) Scripted performances? Local readings of “global” health and safety standards (the apparel sector in Sri Lanka). Global Labour Journal, 4 (2), 88-108.

Record type: Article

Abstract

Ensuring a healthy working environment in the apparel sector is advocated by various multi-stakeholder initiatives and retailers because of apparent concerns for the health and welfare of workers. As an ‘ethically sourced’ supplier in the global garment industry, the Sri Lankan industry has by and large taken great efforts to improve the provision of safety and hygiene to enhance worker welfare. The physical provisos and built environments with regard to health and safety issues are superlatively impressive in many Sri Lankan factories. Yet ethnographic fieldwork suggests that upholding this ethical code is messily enforced, with a lower prioritization of worker welfare. Consequently, in promoting ‘global’ health and safety standards, the lack of attention to existing social hierarchies and local context results in an absence of genuine commitment to labour rights – even where working conditions may seem superlatively impressive. Local enforcement of the health and safety code as it transmits across global spaces then can not be separated from inequities embedded in uneven development processes

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 31 May 2013
Organisations: Geography & Environment

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 353534
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/353534
PURE UUID: c7807af9-39f4-4680-923c-3fef4a278677

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 10 Jun 2013 10:21
Last modified: 11 Dec 2021 02:17

Export record

Contributors

Author: Kanchana N. Ruwanpura

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×