IS OHS NEGLIGENCE AND EVASION AN “ERROR OF JUDGEMENT” OR “WHITE-COLLAR CRIME”? AN INTERPRETATION OF APPAREL MANUFACTURERS IN BANGLADESH

This paper investigates the managerial interpretation of the terms “error of judgement” and “white-collar crime” in relation to the evasion or negligence observed in administering occupational health and safety (OHS) provisions in the apparel manufacturing sector of Bangladesh. The research is qualitative in nature and follows an interpretivist paradigm. The questionnaire responses were collected from 20 mid- and top-level managers from 10 large apparel manufacturing factories located on the outskirts of Dhaka. The research reveals that all of the respondents have adequate knowledge about the relevant OHS provisions and safety protocols imposed on them by the local government and the global supply chain. They believe that the correct administration of the OHS provisions will reduce workplace accidents effectively. The research unfolds that the respondents interpret in different ways the terms "error of judgement” and “white-collar crime” in association with OHS negligence and evasion. Although empirical evidence shows that this type of negligence and evasion are considered as white-collar crime and punishable, most of the respondents in this research do not subscribe to this notion and alternatively believe that it is an “error of judgement” and therefore non-punishable.

[1]  Howard Ramos.  Developing Research Questions: A Guide for Social Scientists , 2009 .

[2]  G. Gereffi.  International trade and industrial upgrading in the apparel commodity chain , 1999 .

[3]  Peter Knorringa,et al.  Learning from Global Buyers , 2000 .

[4]  James C. Hackler,et al.  Criminal Behavior Systems: A Typology. , 1968 .

[5]  Chen Qu,et al.  On Corporate Crime , 2003 .

[6]  Merrilyn Walton.  Anatomy of a complaint - error of judgement or professional misconduct? , 1998 .

[7]  Faisal Z. Ahmed,et al.  The Paradox of Export Growth in Areas of Weak Governance: The Case of the Ready Made Garment Sector in Bangladesh☆ , 2014 .

[8]  Md. Mazedul Islam,et al.  Textile Industries in Bangladesh and Challenges of Growth , 2013 .

[9]  Joe Cloutier.  Is History Repeating Itself at Lubicon Lake , 1988 .

[10]  Thomas D. Overcast,et al.  White-collar crime : an agenda for research , 1982 .

[11]  J. Short,et al.  TOWARD A SOCIOLOGY OF ORGANIZATIONAL CRIME , 1978 .

[12]  Luiza. Bazan,et al.  The underground revolution in the Sinos Valley: a comparison of upgrading in global and national value chains , 2004 .

[13]  Anne Mette Bjerkan.  Health, environment, safety culture and climate – analysing the relationships to occupational accidents , 2010 .

[14]  Mohammed Ziaul Haider.  Structural changes and international competitiveness of the Bangladesh textile and garment industry , 2007 .

[15]  Takahiro Fukunishi,et al.  The Garment Industry in Low-Income Countries , 2014 .

[16]  Gerald D. Robin.  White-Collar Crime and Employee Theft , 1974 .

[17]  Herbert Edelhertz,et al.  The nature, impact, and prosecution of white-collar crime , 1970 .

[18]  Sharan B. Merriam,et al.  Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation , 2009 .

[19]  Joseph J. French,et al.  The Roof Is on Fire: The Ethical Minefield of the Textile Industry in Bangladesh , 2013 .

[20]  Susan Greener,et al.  Business Research Methods , 2008 .

[21]  J. Creswell.  Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five traditions. , 1998 .

[22]  Vitor Sousa,et al.  Risk-based management of occupational safety and health in the construction industry – Part 1: Background knowledge , 2014 .

[23]  Harry S. Shannon,et al.  Organizational practices and workplace health and safety: A cross-sectional study in manufacturing companies , 2010 .

[24]  E. Guba,et al.  Fourth Generation Evaluation , 1989 .

[25]  David Whyte,et al.  The Myths and Realities of Deterrence in Workplace Safety Regulation , 2013 .

[26]  Belinda Reeve,et al.  Deterrence and OHS Prosecutions: Prosecuted Employers’ Responses , 2010 .

[27]  Jashim Uddin Ahmed,et al.  Industrial Safety in Readymade Garment Sector: A Developing Country Perspective , 2009 .

[28]  Yana van der Meulen Rodgers,et al.  Options for Enforcing Labor Standards: Lessons from Bangladesh and Cambodia , 2010 .

[29]  Sinan Çaya,et al.  White-Collar Criminality , 2016 .

[30]  Muhammad Faisol Chowdhury,et al.  Industrial Accidents in Bangladesh Apparel Manufacturing Sector: An Analysis of the Two Most Deadliest Accidents In History , 2016 .

[31]  S. Shapiro,et al.  COLLARING THE CRIME, NOT THE CRIMINAL: RECONSIDERING THE CONCEPT OF WHITE-COLLAR CRIME* , 1990 .

[32]  Tetsushi Sonobe,et al.  An Inquiry into the Rapid Growth of the Garment Industry in Bangladesh , 2011, Economic Development and Cultural Change.

[33]  Edward Alsworth Ross.  Sin and Society; An Analysis of Latter-Day Iniquity , 2009 .

[34]  Farid Ahammad Sobhani,et al.  Determinants of outsourcing decision in the manufacturing industry In Bangladesh , 2008, Business Review.

[35]  P. Bodman,et al.  Crime, punishment and deterrence in Australia: A further empirical investigation , 1997 .

[36]  Afsana Jahan Bhuiyan,et al.  Improving Occupational Safety and Health in Bangladesh , 2008, International journal of occupational and environmental health.

[37]  Madbuli H. Noweir,et al.  Occupational safety and health performance of the manufacturing sector in Jeddah Industrial Estate, Saudi Arabia: A 20-years follow-up study , 2013 .

[38]  David O. Friedrichs.  Occupational crime, occupational deviance, and workplace crime , 2002 .

[39]  Fazluz Zaman,et al.  Readymade Garments Industry (RMG) Sector in Bangladesh: Is Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) provision will be regulated by the Entrepreneurs or Government? , 2013 .

[40]  E. Sutherland,et al.  Is “White-Collar Crime” Crime? , 1945 .

[41]  Kenneth R. Hammond,et al.  Human Judgment and Social Policy: Irreducible Uncertainty, Inevitable Error, Unavoidable Injustice , 2000 .