An Indian iPhone plant run by Foxconn was temporarily closed down back in 2021 due to major health infractions in worker accommodation – including the presence of rats, food crawling with worms, and toilets without running water.
Now for the first time, we’re learning of the findings of a subsequent government inspection, which revealed many more safety infractions within the plant itself, some of which were described as “highly hazardous” to the health of workers …
What was already known
The original reporting concerned the standards of dormitory accommodation provided to seasonal migrant workers on iPhone production lines. Apple sent its own inspectors, confirmed the unacceptable standards, and ordered the plant to be shut down until the problems were addressed.
Apple put Foxconn’s factory in southern India on probation following worker protests and an investigation that revealed substandard living conditions […]
“Following recent concerns about food safety and accommodation conditions at Foxconn Sriperumbudur, we dispatched independent auditors,” an Apple spokesperson said. “We found that some of the remote dormitory accommodations and dining rooms being used for employees do not meet our requirements and we are working with the supplier to ensure a comprehensive set of corrective actions are rapidly implemented.”
Subsequent reporting revealed the full horror of some of the conditions found.
For women who assembled iPhones at a Foxconn plant in southern India, crowded dorms without flush toilets and food sometimes crawling with worms were problems to be endured for the paycheck.
But when tainted food sickened over 250 of the workers their anger boiled over, culminating in a rare protest that shut down a plant where 17,000 had been working […]
Workers slept on the floor in rooms, which housed between six to 30 women, five of these workers said. Two workers said the hostel they lived in had toilets without running water.
Unpublished report finds numerous health hazards
At least four different government agencies sent inspectors into the plant, including the Tamil Nadu directorate of industrial safety and health, which covers the region in which the plant is based. That report has never been published, but TIME has now gained access to a copy.
The report details literally hundreds of safety infractions inside the Indian iPhone plant.
The inspection found that six workers whose job was to manually solder iPhone parts together “were not provided with protective equipment” including safety goggles, chemical-resistant gloves, or respirators, according to a letter sent by the government inspector to Foxconn, a copy of which was reviewed by TIME. In the areas of the factory where soldering was carried out, the inspection found, the ventilation system was not sufficient to prevent “the escape and spread of toxic fumes into the working environment.” That soldering process, the letter said, was “highly hazardous to the health of workers.”
In another part of the factory, the inspector found that workers “were not provided with suitable goggles to protect their eyes from the excessive light and infrared radiation.” He identified 77 pieces of automated machinery that were missing crucial “interlock” mechanisms on their doors to prevent operation under dangerous conditions, and 262 instances of missing guards on pressing machinery. The lack of these protective mechanisms, the letter said, posed a risk of bodily injury. And six large industrial ovens used to attach tiny electrical components to iPhone circuit boards, the letter said, had not been “tested by a competent person” before factory workers were expected to use them.
Numerous breaches of both state law and Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct were found, which also included illegal working hours that would further put workers at risk through tiredness. Contract workers do not receive sick pay or paid vacation.
Foxconn and Apple say problems were fixed
Foxconn said that all the issues raised in the report were addressed:
“We took measures and addressed every issue the government raised from its inspection,” a Foxconn spokesperson said in a statement to TIME, without specifying what those issues were.
Apple echoed this, and said the company has greatly increased the frequency of its audits.
“The issues at Foxconn Sriperumbudur were investigated and addressed a year and a half ago and we placed the facility on probation,” the spokesperson said in a statement to TIME in May. “During this period Foxconn invested in significant improvements and through quarterly, and at times weekly audits, Apple and independent auditors have tracked meaningful upgrades to the facility with frequent visits and employee interviews.”
The full piece – which also discusses disparities in worker pay and conditions – is worth reading.
Photo: Siora Photography/Unsplash
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