Many obstacles still exist toward improving safety standards, practices, and culture in the ready-made garment (RMG) industry in Bangladesh. Workers' beliefs and habits, employers' level of involvement, and gaps in the regulatory framework necessitate an examination of safety practices to build a foundation for safety culture in the workplace. The focus of this study was to contribute to regulatory reform aimed at creating a safe work environment by exploring the perceptions of workers, employers, and government regulators through the lens of the theory on reciprocal determinism. A total of 41 participants, categorized into three groups of workers, employers, and government regulators, consented to face-to-face interviews. The study provided individual and group perspectives of requirements for safe factories and development of safety culture. Interview data were inductively coded and subjected to a thematic analysis procedure. The results showed the groups collectively prioritized the need for training, collaboration, health, and safety, and they raised concern over civil unrest. The groups differed on the importance placed in areas such as protection of workers, profit, and legal enforcement. The study results can serve to contribute to effective government reform by developing self-efficacy of workers and improve collaboration between workers, employers, and government in the RMG industry of Bangladesh.

The fashion industry is beginning to understand the need to move strategically towards sustainability. Yet there appears at present little coordination between global fashion brands and their supply chains to pursue strategic sustainable development and ensure the long term resilience of their business. We asked: What does a fashion brand need to know about its first tier suppliers in China in order to form a strategy towards sustainability? We utilised a scientific, principle-based definition of sustainability and framework to identify the underlying challenges faced by two Chinese garment factories in moving strategically towards sustainability. The challenges enabled us to inform three strategic guidelines that a fashion brand should consider when working with its supply chain towards sustainability. Research draws on literature, interviews among industry experts, interviews with a major fashion brand, and on-site workshops with two of its first-tier garment factories in China. The results of our research indicate: 1) the specific challenges factories face are commonly associated with internal corporate culture, the fashion brand’s directives, and the regulatory environment in China; 2) the fashion brand should aim to broaden its purchasing priorities, generate increased collaboration with suppliers and build awareness towards empowerment and ownership of sustainability and associated strategies and actions.