More than 1,100 garment workers died when a factory collapsed in Bangladesh last month. The tragedy sparked a discussion on what people in the U.S. can do to improve working conditions abroad. Comments from Twitter and Facebook:

U.S. consumers can do nothing to help. Greedy Americans have shares in those Third World coffin factories.


Consumers can support companies with good practices.


Vote with your wallet. In the information age, there is no excuse for being an ignorant consumer.


When companies such as Levis and many low-cost retailers are tapping into those countries for cheap labor, there is no return.


Require transparency! There is a story behind each piece of clothing you buy: some good and some horrible.


Why don't we have more garment factories in U.S.? Answer: The federal government and unions push production overseas.


Consumers will always seek low prices. Manufacturers must be held accountable by government and consumer groups.


The big retailers do not care about these workers. The retailers know there are millions more just like them to provide cheap slave labor and huge profits.

— Dale Smith

I refuse to take responsibility for what happens in another country. It's not my problem, and I'm not going to be made to feel as if I did anything wrong. If someone else has the same or a similar garment at a lower price, and the quality and craftsmanship are the same, I'll buy it at the lower price. It's really that simple.

David S. Greenberg

Retailers need to conduct independent inspections. They should know who is making their clothing and under what conditions.

Dorothy Herman

Letter to the editor:

It is important to learn from the tragedy of the garment factory collapse in Savar, Bangladesh, and better understand what we as end users can do about preventing such tragedies.

A reflexive response might be to boycott clothing made in Bangladesh. Avoiding these items would do little to benefit Bangladeshi workers. For them access to this work means life, regardless of safety. And unsafe work conditions exist to varying degrees in every country, not just Bangladesh.

Western corporations wield tremendous economic influence with regard to the standards they expect their suppliers to adopt.

Proof that corporations can be influenced to adopt and enforce standards can be found in a concept championed by the environmental movement for decades: sustainability. A corporation should not be considered sustainable if it does not undertake appropriate measures to ensure the safety and health of its workers and those in its supply chain.

The Center for Safety and Health Sustainability (CSHS) encourages corporations to not only adopt a sustainable business model, but also to ensure that that model incorporates sustainable occupational safety and health practices.

Everyone in the life cycle of a product, whether it is a corporation, a consumer, an investor, or other stakeholder, has a moral responsibility to understand the conditions in which the product is produced. Workers, whether they are manufacturing suppliers in Bangladesh or retail staff in London outlets, are entitled to protection from workplace hazards. This task is daunting but achievable.

Tom Cecich, chair, Board of Directors, Center for Safety and Health Sustainability; Des Plaines, Ill.