Workers’ Safety: Who’s Paying the Price for Cheap Clothing?

🎙️ The Fashion Stitch – On Fabrics, Facts and Feelings

Episode 5: Workers’ Safety — Who’s Paying the Price for Cheap Clothing?

TikTok hauls promise “52 items for almost nothing.” But someone, somewhere, is paying.
In this episode, host Clare Press asks: are the people making our clothes safe — and who is protecting them?

💡 We explore the urgent realities — and the possible solutions:

Fire, chemicals, extreme heat: the hidden health risks inside factories
What changed after Rana Plaza — and what still hasn’t
The Bangladesh Accord and how legally binding safety can work
New risks from climate change inside production facilities
Certifications and unannounced audits — what OEKO-TEX® is doing
Why worker safety is inseparable from fair wages and accountability

👥 Featuring

Christie Miedema – Campaigns and Outreach Coordinator, Clean Clothes Campaign, on fire hazards, chemicals & global risk blind spots
Elisa Rimmele – Head of Quality Management, OEKO-TEX®, on safer alternatives & audits
Kalpona Akter – Founder and Executive Director, Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity, on wages, unions & consumer power.
🎥 Interview with FRANCE 24 English

🔑 Topics we cover

Rana Plaza: what changed — and what didn’t
Sandblasting, PP spray & invisible chemical threats
Climate crisis as a new workplace safety risk
Living wages as the foundation of dignity and safety
How legislation like the EU CSDDD could shift responsibility

📌 Sources and further reading

💌 Want to dive deeper?

🎧 Credits

The Fashion Stitch is brought to you by OEKO-TEX® in partnership with Fashion Changers.

Concept & Script: Vreni Jäckle and Nina Lorenzen
Editorial: Vreni Jäckle
Cover Design: Vreni Jäckle
Host: Clare Press
Production & Sound Design: Studio Tongoetze