Garment industry gets thumbs up from OSHA

In a span of two short years, Saipan’s garment industry has gone from the favorite whipping boy of critics in the US, to emerge as a model industry in terms of taking care of the health and safety requirements of its labor force.

This was echoed by Frank Strasheim, Region IX administrator of the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Mr. Strasheim noted that the transformation began roughly after OSHA and the Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association signed a partnership to improve the working and living conditions of garment workers on the island.

“The difference was just like night and day,” Mr. Strasheim stressed. “The first thing I noticed were the capital improvements made by the garment industry here in Saipan. There are a lot of new buildings, dormitories and water quality has improved tremendously.”

The hiring of safety personnel was also strictly adhered to by garment manufacturers. Under one of the policies forged by the SGMA and OSHA, garment manufacturers should assign one for every 500 workers.

Even the smallest details did not escape the discriminating eye of the OSHA Administrator. Mr. Strasheim said he even saw air-conditioned barracks, which were not required in the first place, but the management of garment factories nonetheless installed.

But what impressed Mr. Strasheim the most was that some SGMA members even went out of their way to come up with their own full service health and safety manuals.

However, OSHA reminded the SGMA that although they have done an exemplary job, the work does not end there. Mr. Strasheim pointed to a few issues the island’s garment industry should address.

He said training manuals for safety and health procedures should be printed on the language workers would be able to understand. Mr. Strasheim also reminded companies to hire full-time safety officials instead of part-time employees, as the latter would prove more diligent in their work.

But the key in ensuring the health and safety of employees, Mr. Strasheim revealed, is to involve workers in the whole process.

“It would be useless to encourage complaints on working and living conditions, if the complainant would have to fear about reprisals,” Mr. Strasheim noted.

Overall, the OSHA administrator was all praises with the SGMA.

“They’re well on their way to becoming a model for the rest of the world. I’m impressed by the members’ (SGMA) commitment in placing the safety and health of their workers first,” Mr. Strasheim said.

SGMA is composed of 33 garment manufacturers in Saipan. Of the number, 23 companies are participating in the self-policing partnership with OSHA.

The agreement basically encourages employers to carry out many of the routine safety and health inspections previously carried out by the OSHA.