Many clothing brands are having to deal with the fallout of the recent building collapse that killed more than 600 people in Bangladesh. While some are acknowledging their role and promising compensation others are denying they authorized work at factories, despite evidence to the contrary.

Bangladesh has a $20 billion garment industry, but it’s seen multiple deadly disasters in the past six months. The best way to resolve this may come from working to overhaul safety in the country’s garment factories.

“Just public relations is not going to do it,” said Caroline Sapriel, managing director of CS&A, a firm that specializes in reputation management in crisis situations. “I don’t think it’s enough anymore to say: We’re not involved in these particular factories.”

Companies downplaying involvement in Bangladesh’s factory safety problems may hope that Western consumers care more about the price than the location of its creation. Rahul Sharma, public affairs executive with the India-based public relations firm Genesis Burston-Marsteller, thinks that’s a risky strategy however.

“Reputation is built over a long period of time. But to lose it, it can take seconds,” Sharma said.

Sharma recommended any retailer doing business in Bangladesh to form of a concrete plan to overhaul the entire industry, working with government, factory owners and labor unions. “They need to send out the message that they are addressing this problem — and then they need to actually do it,” he said.

The most recent disaster brought companies like H&M, JC Penny, Gap, Nike, Li & Fung and Tesco to meet with representatives of the Bangladeshi garment association. This might push retailers and brands to embrace a union-proposed plan for all retailers to fund factory upgrades and independent inspections that would cover the entire industry in Bangladesh.

“There is a perception when something terrible like this happens, that crisis communication is going to fix it,” Sapriel said. “But no, no. You have to go and fix the problem. And then, only then, can you can communicate that you’ve done something to fix the problem.”

Source: USAToday.com