Ethical Issues in the Primemark Market

In this report I will be examining and explaining ethical concerns that communities face when a business operates. In this case I will be using Primark as the selected business. Primark within the past year or so have faced many concerns that have heavily affected the surrounding communities of where their businesses operate such as the sweat shops discovered within the UK. This was a big ethical concern due to the child labour and the incredibly low pay rate which broke UK trading laws and human rights.

Although this was not as shocking as the Bangladesh disaster which involved the collapse of a large factory that Primark produced products in. The result of this caused many lives to be taken and serous court action taken on the managers and owners of this factory. While these workers worked within this factory they worked under incredibly poor conditions and an incredibly low pay rate of 25 pounds a month to live on.

This conditions which workers lived under not only affected them for the worse but their entire community was surviving on barley enough money to eat or live in acceptable conditions.

What this factory was doing to the community before it collapsed is enough to break most trading laws such as human rights and workplace safety. But when the factory collapsed killing close to a hundred of its workers it has had a bad effect on the environment and communities due to the debris and rubble that surround the site.

Primark have admitted liability and paid compensation but a lot more could have been done to prevent this;

• Safety – Primark could at least send one health and safety officer to examine the workplace before Primark makes business deals with.
  Get quality help now

  

  Writer Lyla

  Verified

  Proficient in: Economics

  5 (876)

  “ Have been using her for a while and please believe when I tell you, she never fail. Thanks Writer Lyla you are indeed awesome ”

  

  +84 relevant experts are online

  Hire writer

  If problems arise then Primark could invest in the work place raising its safety standards instead of having to pay fines then being known as an unethical business.

• Wellbeing checks – Primark could send Human resources employees to examine the wellbeing of the employees of the business which business deals are to be made.

This would make sure that the business is operating ethically and to the standard of what their customer’s expect.

• Send assessors on a yearly or monthly basis – To make sure the safety of the workplaces and the wellbeing of its workers is kept up to the average standard from the first visit assessors should be sent to document the businesses maintained standard. To which it is then reported back to superiors. What Primark have done after the Bangladesh;
• Spending $1 million (? 640,000) on short term aid and food aid the victims.
• Compensating thousands of families that where effected by the disaster.
• Opened a website -http://www. primark-ethicaltrading. co. uk/ – on this website it has information on what further action Primark is taking to help and aid the local communities such as an improved safety programme and the HERproject which focuses on the wellbeing and health of female workers.