Can better data protect fashion workers from climate risks?
Fashion suppliers are starting to take climate risks into account when deciding where to locate factories or how to keep workers safe in them, but a lack of good data is holding back early efforts to mitigate threats, industry officials warned.
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One crucial part of judging the impact of growing climate risks is listening to the factory workers themselves, researchers said.
Nasrin, for example, a 40-year-old garment factory operator in Gazipur, near Dhaka, told Context that heavy and erratic rainfall sometimes clogs the roads with muddy water, making it hard to walk to work, while ever-hotter summers make being at home unbearable.
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Last year, workers at a Team Group factory in Savar, near Dhaka, pointed out that 40% of workers at the plant arrived via a footpath that flooded during heavy rains, leading to worker tardiness or absences.
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