As you walked through the doors of your workplace this morning did you look up at the ceiling and wonder if it was moments away from collapsing on your head? No? Too right!

Whether you sit at a desk all day typing, sew seams and buttons on the latest fashions, or chop down trees in the great outdoors, you should be able to rely on your employer to ensure that you are as safe as possible at work. 

Today marks exactly six months since 1,133 people were killed and 2,515 people injured whilst making garments for international fashion brands in the collapse of the Rana Plaza eight-story commercial building in Bangladesh.  

Where we are born is all down to luck - we do nothing to deserve our start in life and can do nothing to change it. I am fortunate enough to have been born into a society where we have rights and laws and systems that, to a greater extent, are intended to protect us. But I would hope that had I been born somewhere like Bangladesh - a country still finding its feet, where rights and laws and systems often fail or don’t exist; where extreme poverty is the norm and opportunities are few and far between - that my fellow global citizens, those who influence the global economy, who have a voice and the tools to make a difference, would help me fight my corner.

I’m proud to be part of The Global Poverty Project’s See Through Fashion campaign that is already having an impact in the UK.

As a collective of over 100 inspired, passionate, concerned Global Poverty Ambassadors, we are campaigning hard to get the fashion industry to take responsibility for its employees and supply chains. Since London Fashion Week in September, we’ve already forced three of the biggest brands on the UK high street (River Island, Topshop and Matalan) to sign the Bangladesh Safety Accord, guaranteeing much needed safety checks in factories and posing legal consequences for unsafe environments and our next targets are Peacocks and Sports Direct.

While this is only just the start of creating a world where everyone in every country, not just Bangladesh, can work in a job that’s safe, fulfilling and fairly paid, it’s a pretty damn good place to do so.

Not so many years ago we could claim ignorance about these issues, we could declare a lack of knowledge about other countries, or limited means of communication with the ‘outside world’. But today that isn’t the case. Today, expanses of sea or rough terrain are no barriers at all. Languages, religion, cultures and traditions transcend borders.

Countries are old news. Sure they serve their purpose, but we are all global citizens now – no longer limited to just one village, city, country or continent. We talk to friends, colleagues and strangers across the globe at the touch of a button. Our clothes, phones, shopping, foods, online gaming, footballers and musicians are international. We travel far and wide, for business and leisure and our friends and families have expanded into all four corners of the planet.

We know what’s going on. We can see and hear for ourselves the conditions that our fellow citizens in countries like Bangladesh have to live and work in and you do care. Gone are the days of countries solely communicating via governments, the media or multinational corporations. We, as citizens, have become friends and neighbours and we must support the people with whose lives ours have become so intertwined.

This new era of communication and connectedness brings with it more power than ever before. We have the power to like or dislike, to campaign, to tweet, to share, to call, to petition. We can’t make ethical and responsible decisions for governments and companies, but we can give them a hefty push in the right direction and stand up to them when they don’t act as they should. We are the reason that these companies exist, but we now need to be the reason that these companies take responsibility for their actions.

So, from the rubble of the Rana Plaza tragedy, there is a glimmer of hope. Everywhere people are waking up to realise that we can all work together to make the world a better place. As global citizens we can all be ambassadors for change – ambassadors for a world we all want to live in; where people feel lucky to be born in Bangladesh;  where amazing things can happen and people feel safe and cared for at work; a world where we can be proud of the clothes we wear, safe in the knowledge that the people who have made them are as happy and healthy as we would want for ourselves. 

Our clothing industry has been opaque for far too long – YOU can help us make Fashion See Through.

What are you waiting for!? Join in – On the website, on Twitter, on Facebook. Or just simply tell your friends.