Commercial Investment Real Estate March/April 2018 | Page 13
those same areas now are blocking development because of
concerns about sustainability or responsibility for long-term
environmental liabilities.
Ensuring Safety
Anyone who’s worked in manufacturing for more than a few
years has heard stories about what people do at their jobs in other
countries that would be considered appalling in Western econo-
mies. For example, an employee at a smelter who wore one shoe.
The shoe went on the foot over which the worker ladled material
from the crucible to the mold, and the liquid metal sometimes
dripped. He could only afford the one shoe, so he bought just the
one shoe and worked in the smelter with one bare foot.
Although it may be considered the cultural norm to work in a
smelter bare-footed or single-shoed where this worker is located,
it isn’t acceptable in the U.S. or European countries. Global com-
panies cannot tolerate these disparities.
International organizations are becoming more involved in
workers’ rights and ensuring that basic standards of safety are
universal, rather than dependent on local norms or employees’
desperation for work. Also, workers in global companies want
to know that employees are treated ethically at all levels, inde-
pendent of location.
Regulating Supply Chains
Many global companies already are implementing this concept
for safety. For example, injuries for subcontractors have to be
included in the organization’s total safety statistics. Responsi-
bility for suppliers, both safety and environmental, has become
critical for a global economy.
Ignorance of where a company’s supplier sources raw materials
or how employees are treated at supporting facilities no longer is
acceptable. It also is becoming harder to believe.
The perennial media attention that personal electronics com-
panies receive about working conditions in assembly factories,
which are not owned or operated by the design firm, is publicity
no company wants. Also, the responsibility for injury and death
in these facilities are statistics no firm wants on its resume.
Globally, consumers are concerned about how the products they
purchase are sourced. As more ethical and sustainable options are
presented, the longevity of a business may depend on ensuring
that every life stage of its product meets the highest standards for
compliance with environmental and safety regulations.
Andy Bajorat is chief operating officer and principal at BBJ
Group, an environmental consulting firm in Chicago. Contact him
at [email protected].
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