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The Negative Health Effects of Fast Fashion
Words Aisha Kamara
Do you ever wonder how your favourite fast fashion labels can be so affordable? Although the low cost is a plus, those who work for these companies experience serious health consequences on a daily basis. Health editor Aisha Kamara explores.
Fast fashion is a term used to describe clothes that are cheap, affordable and often in trend and many fashion brands introduce new trends that require garment workers to work twice as hard. Fast fashion has had a substantial negative impact on individuals who work in environments that are typically unsafe. It has been known for many years that most of our clothes are made in countries that have restricted work rights and workers are often put in locations that can have a serious health effect. Unfortunately many of these garment workers are from countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, China, Vietnam and a few other poor Asian countries. At present, 80 percent of fast fashion workers are women and children under 18 also contribute to the fast fashion industry which illustrates the lack of regulation on young children who are more vulnerable in such an environment.
Most of these workers are placed in dangerous buildings where they deal with the exposure of toxic substances, dust inhalation, smoke inhalation, no ventilation, and exposure to unsafe electrical wires which is a threat to their health. This is more dangerous for those who may have existing health problems as a build-up of these toxins over a long period of time can lead to serious health diseases such as cancer and respiratory diseases. Fires and accidents are known to be frequent when working in such environments which puts these workers at risk of serious injuries or even death. Nearly 41 percent of garment workers suffer from stress and extreme exhaustion and about 39 percent suffer from eye strain which again is damaging to their health and wellbeing. In some cases, many workers are abused verbally and physically and are constantly facing pressure. It is unfortunate that most garment workers face the desperate decision to earn a living and neglect the care of their health and wellbeing. Although fast fashion has the effect of damaging one's health, it also has an environmental impact from huge carbon emissions to toxic substances affecting water. Wastewater is usually dumped in huge rivers which has a risk of exposure to heavy metals that could affect thousands of people.
Many workers are required to work up to 16 hours a day, 7 days a week receiving below minimum wage and do not make enough to afford basic needs. Due to the fact that the majority of workers are from poor backgrounds, they have little to no choice but to work in deprived conditions for any salary. Furthermore, individuals are forced to work in bad conditions which violates their rights to refuse to work. It is obvious that many of these workers are at serious risk of their health physically, mentally and socially and the fast fashion industry should consider improving work conditions. In 2012, a fire incident occurred in a fashion factory in Bangladesh which led to many injuries and death. It was reported that nearly 800 people were injured that year due to unreported fires and was known to be the worst industrial accident. What is interesting is that there are an estimated 5,000 factories in Bangladesh alone and incidents occur everyday however not many are reported. This brought awareness to the government to make improvements and to regulate health and safety measures for workers. Despite pulling this initiative, many garment workers are still at huge risk and not all factories follow the procedure put in place.
Fast fashion industries will have to pull their focus on individuals working in such conditions and consider their health and wellbeing as well as their mental state by creating a safe environment to work in. While it is important for individuals to put their health first, many are in circumstances where they are unable to afford general health check-ups. It is argued that this is a form of negligence and workers should earn enough to take care of their health. Nevertheless, it is proposed that people should consider purchasing high quality clothing and avoid the cheaper brands. This could be effective as it can create awareness to fast fashion brands to consider better quality clothing however, this does not illustrate improvement of health and safety to garment workers. There are many independent initiatives that attempt to fight change of inhumane working conditions and promote improvements of health and wellbeing, although it has little effect many are still determined to make a change.