China: Foxconn explosion was “accident waiting to happen”

Sunday, 29 May 2011.

Apple supplier once again in news for labour abuses • Video shows aluminium dust that caused deadly Foxconn blast

chinaworker.info reporters

Foxconn, the Taiwan-owned company that is the world’s largest contract electronic manufacturer and China’s single biggest exporter is once again at the centre of a media storm, following a deadly explosion at its Chengdu plant in western China. Foxconn, a major supplier to companies like Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sony and Apple, has long been accused of lax industrial safety standards along with other companies in China. The Chengdu plant produces exclusively for Apple.

Three workers died and 15 were injured in an explosion in a polishing workshop on Friday 20 May. The dusty and poorly ventilated workshop is where workers polish the cases of iPads. The explosion was caused by combustible dust in an air duct, according to a preliminary investigation by the local authorities. A video filmed secretly two months earlier by a Hong Kong labour rights group at the Chengdu polishing workshop shows workers caked in ultrafine aluminium dust.

“This was an accident waiting to happen. Like many other factories in China, there is a complete failure to protect workers from hazardous chemicals and dust,” said Chen Lizhi of chinaworker.info.

“There is an urgent need for independent unions and the right of workers to elect health and safety representatives, to undergo proper training, and have the right to stop production when potential hazards are identified,” he said.

Another suicide

Foxconn became infamous after a spate of worker suicides at its plants last year. Altogether 17 workers attempted suicide with 14 succeeding. These tragic deaths of young workers drew attention to the inhuman production conditions and militaristic culture of the company that drives its workers hard to meet its global orders – for example for Apple’s popular phones and iPads.

After Foxconn announced measures last year to stop the suicides, Apple praised its efforts, saying the company had “definitely saved lives.” This seems like a sick joke in the light of recent events. Last week a 20-year-old male became the first worker to commit suicide at the same Chengdu plant where the explosion occurred. He leapt from a building on Thursday May 26

“Foxconn hasn’t really changed. It’s just moved its militarised sweatshops inland to poorer provinces, where governments are more welcoming and labour is cheaper,” said Chen of chinaworker.info.

Foxconn employs an estimated 1 million people in China at a series of huge factory campuses. Since its flagship Shenzhen factories became embroiled in the suicide scandals it has been moving aggressively to build up its operations in central and western China. As detailed in an earlier article on chinaworker.info, these new plants offer lower wages and often rely on ‘conscripted’ labour – student interns – supplied by local governments that receive generous pay-outs from the company.

Video shows dust hazard

The Hong Kong-based labour rights group, SACOM, shot a video at Foxconn’s plant in March 2011, two months prior to the deadly Chengdu explosion. The workers from the polishing workshop are covered by dust on their face, hands and clothes. The dust on workers’ forehead could not be shown in the footage in order to protect their identities from company and possible state repression.

At the time, SACOM issued a report warning that workers face adverse work environments with poor ventilation and inadequate protective equipment. The group note that the May 20 tragedy could have been averted if Foxconn and Apple strictly complied with the local laws on work safety.

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