Cheap Clothing in the UK Can Carry a Death Sentence?

The organisation Labour Behind the Label (LBL) claim that UK women sewing machinists have a much higher death risk from Covid-19 infections, than females in any other subgroup (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/18/uk-garment-factory-workers-at-higher-risk-of-dying-with-covid-study). LBL point out that female machinists in the poorly-regulated, cheap clothing industries of the English midlands, routinely work long hours, crowded together in poorly-ventilated buildings. Toilet and washing facilities are also frequently primitive. Their bosses can be very demanding, some insisting that workers, irrespective of symptoms, turn up to complete contracts with tight deadlines. It is difficult to establish an accurate death rate. LBL claim that that for UK sewing machinists is 65 per 100,000. The independent ONS says, because of the small cohort size, it could actually be between 35 and 110 per 100,000. All these numbers are, however, considerably higher than the 17 per 100,000 quoted for all women in the UK (this last figure includes the really elderly in care homes, where Covid infections were rife). It really does not look good that workers in this industry face such risks. It's not as if this should be news to anyone.