Workplace health and safety violations pose deadly risks for factory workers

At least 22 workers were killed in a South Korean factory fire in June after multiple batteries exploded, underscoring the ongoing safety failings within global supply chains. Many of the workers killed were Chinese nationals, and data shows foreign migrant workers may face higher risks of hazardous working conditions due to various complexities like language barriers and lack of proper training.?

This fatal incident is one of a grim growing trend, as data from EiQ, our supply chain intelligence platform shows workplace health and safety incidents have been on the rise in recent years.??

Identifying health and safety risks early through a data-driven approach?

At least 94 sourcing countries showed high or extreme risk for health and safety violations in 2024, according to EiQ data, and the International Labor Organisation (ILO) estimates at least 2.3 million workers die every year due to work-related accidents or diseases.??

Unsafe working conditions may often go undetected as public awareness tends to be focused on forced labour and child labour violations in supply chains. Businesses also lack visibility over suppliers, as sporadic audits may not provide a true reflection of a site’s conditions. Deadly incidents like the South Korean factory fire and the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster remind us that worker safety in global supply chains must be prioritised - and urgently - to prevent further tragedies.?

A proactive approach: identifying health and safety incidents early

We have seen the repercussions of unsafe working conditions for years, in 2013 more than 1,100 workers were killed after a garment factory in Bangladesh collapsed. This ignited efforts to improve working conditions in global supply chains, but the issue persists. Worldwide, there are around 340 million occupational accidents every year, according to the ILO.?

While audits have long been the cornerstone of supply chain risk management, they are limited in their ability to capture the true picture of factory conditions. They often occur on pre-scheduled dates, which allows factories to prepare and present themselves in the best possible light, potentially masking ongoing health and safety issues.

Our EiQ Sentinel tool, which scans suppliers for adverse ESG media incidents, identified more than 300 fire incidents, including some fatal, in 2023 and 2024 alone across 34 countries. Fire incidents and fatal injuries are rarely reported through standard audits, highlighting the need for beyond audit measures to properly assess health and safety risks on sites.?

Supplier engagement: improving factory conditions through digital training

Engaging suppliers is vital to improving health and safety conditions in your supply chain. including engaging suppliers to better understand and align with risk mitigation strategies.

Our digital learning service empowers suppliers to implement business best practice and offers training courses in local languages on various supply chain ESG topics.

To promote workplace safety at manufacturing and production facilities, we recently launched the Effectively managing chemicals course on EiQ Learn, our digital supply chain training tool. This learning plan offers a combination of courses, assessments, and activities to teach participants how to build a comprehensive chemical management system.?

Access this learning plan for free by clicking here and entering the code ‘insights’.

Businesses around the world are using EiQ Learn to understand supply chain risks, align with regulatory requirements, and support supplier compliance and remediation.

Upcoming webinar: how you can prepare for the upcoming CSDDD requirements

Nearly 80% of the world's 2,000 most influential companies scored ZERO on their implementation of human rights due diligence, according to the World Benchmarking Alliance. As we approach the deadline for the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)'s requirements in 2027, businesses must start improving their due diligence approach to ensure they are in compliance.

Register now for our 10 July webinar to find out how the CSDDD relates to existing European legislation and how you can effectively build on current due diligence systems.

In this webinar with our experts, you will learn how to implement an effective due diligence process and discover how to prepare for the new legislation.

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