Trying to punish large corporations for the abuses they and their suppliers commit overseas has gained popular appeal in recent years, though legislation and enforcement curbing such practices is still very much a work in progress.
The horrendous cumulative death count witnessed in Bangladesh following a Dhaka factory fire in 2012, and then the disastrous Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013, has prompted lawmakers, regulators, and labour organisations to question the “arm’s length” attitude some companies have to health and safety in their supply chains, as well as to look again at how easily multinationals can be held liable and to account in their home countries for their inaction abroad.
