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Neo1
Foxconn is behemoth employing enough people to populate a large city. It is not ...
Bob Lacovara
Paulyvee, you are correct: industrial accidents are not new, nor are they ...
Three dead in Foxconn iPad factory blast
Peter Clarke
5/23/2011 4:53 AM EDT
LONDON – Three workers have died and 15 more are injured as a result of an explosion at a factory in Chengdu, China belonging to leading Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn.
The cause of the explosion, which happened at about 7:20 pm local time on Friday May 20, is reported to have been a combustible dust mixture in a duct.
The factory is reported to have recently started production of the iPad2 tablet computer for Apple Inc. Apple has reportedly said it is working with Foxconn to try and understand the cause of the explosion.
The factory is said to be responsible for less than 30 percent of the total Apple iPad2 production.
The explosion will draw attention to Foxconn's problematic history of employment in China.
The company has been dogged by scandal during 2010, including 13 reported suicide attempts among workers at its Longhua campus. Foxconn manufactures many different products on behalf of Apple as well as cell phones for a number of leading brands and games consoles for Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.
The company has at least 800,000 employees in China, including 430,000 in Shenzhen, It said it would increase wages significantly in Shenzhen and stop employing additional people there after the reports of suicides and suicide attempts raised suspicions about working and living conditions.
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elctrnx_lyf
5/23/2011 12:53 PM EDT
That is really a sad news and this again signifies the assessment of the EMS service providers by the OEM's for safety.
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Bob Lacovara
5/23/2011 1:32 PM EDT
Why doesn't Apple manufacture their products in the US, where at least reasonable health and safety standards apply, and there is a supply of competent workers? To see their ads, you'd think that they had only two cares in the world: pleasing the customer with the latest and greatest in leisure time (read: vacuum) activity devices, and providing a rational and caring approach to the environment they live in. I guess there must be a third priority: the bottom line. Hm, it's not really a guess, is it?
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fdunn
5/24/2011 7:56 PM EDT
You hit the nail on the head. Apple (ie; Steve Jobs) agressively seeks and gets the lowest cost suppliers and manufacturers that they think can deliver.
To Jobs and Apple the death of 3 workers and wounding of 15 more is more of a logistical concern rather than a humane concern.
With Apples large production it would make little sense (no pun intended) to have it made here where employees would earn a decent wage (even at minimum wage) and would have to be concerned about what disciplines they would take for a rogue employee, where in China they simply disappear.
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phoenixdave
5/23/2011 2:42 PM EDT
Obviously very sad from a humanity perspective. I think we will have to see the exact cause for the explosion in order to determine if it was a human or mechanical system error, or from lack of maintenance. Although I suspect we will probably never really known. At the very least, it illustrates how the supply lines can be negatively affected by outsourcing manufacturing to countries where regulations may not be as stringent as the US.
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Robotics Developer
5/23/2011 4:07 PM EDT
I wonder how much cost reduction was made possible at this factory due to conditions that may have caused the explosion and loss of life? I can't remember the last time I heard of this type of industrial accident here in the US. Is this as uncommon as I think here or just not "news worthy"? I am sure that production will continue in any country that can provide a low cost manufacturing incentive, but I would hope that those companies using these will now step up and ask for basic safety and human protection measures to be put in place. If we do not require it then are we partly responsible? Just wondering out loud..
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Bob Lacovara
5/23/2011 5:04 PM EDT
Industrial accidents occur with depressing regularity in the US, although they are spread out among diverse industries so that the reporting is scattered. What comes to my mind mostly are the accidents at petrochemical plants such as Texas City, Texas, or (in the 70s) Linden, NJ; accidents that tend towards the spectacular. Still, in the US there are many incentives to making safe workplaces, with continuous training to try to reduce the risks of accidents. However, this is clearly not the case everywhere, and you can be that of the ways that a company reduces its costs safety regulations are among the first to go or be ignored.
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BrainiacV
5/23/2011 4:41 PM EDT
That's OK, there are plenty more workers where they came from. Hopefully the production facility was not too damaged. ;-)
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laura.robison
5/24/2011 7:30 PM EDT
Seriously? I'm assuming you were trying to be sarcastic. Try harder next time.
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chanj
5/23/2011 4:44 PM EDT
China government has an urge to develop well structured labor law and factory safety regulation to protect their people. Chinese people are the biggest capital of China. She can't afford to lose too many of them. To build a good balance between economic growth and humanity improvement is one of the biggest topics that China government has to deal with to sustain long term growth. Good Luck, China. Pray for the families who lost their members.
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btarng
5/23/2011 9:40 PM EDT
" I can't remember the last time I heard of this type of industrial accident here in the US. Is this as uncommon as I think here or just not "news worthy"? "
Two words...Deepwater Horizon. Is our memory really that short?
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Jeff.Mercure
5/24/2011 7:18 AM EDT
"I can't remember the last time I heard of this type of industrial accident here in the US. Is this as uncommon as I think here or just not "news worthy"? "
In 1999, a boiler exploded in a Ford plant here in Michigan, killing 6, injuring 14. Ford was cited for safety violations that contributed to the exposion.
Look around. Accidents like this are all over the place.
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fdunn
5/24/2011 8:01 PM EDT
Even given the industrial accidents in the U.S. the employees and their families have legal recourse.
In China the wounded if unable to even work again will just have to be taken care of by the next of kin. If there is none then they are just S.O.L..
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fdunn
5/24/2011 8:05 PM EDT
Apple has shown again and again that it's toys come before human life.
There is the blood and sweat of the underpaid and over-worked chinese employees all over Apples Products.
As long as the Apple machine moves smoothly despite loss of life then Apple is happy and so are their investors. The Board and investors are just as much to blame since they do have a say.
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Bob Lacovara
5/25/2011 10:36 AM EDT
Don't forget that none of this would be possible if consumers weren't interested in the latest and greatest rubbish regardless of where or how it was produced. If consumers in the US boycotted products built in China, they would be built elsewhere. Whether this would accomplish much or not, it's hard to say.
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unknown multiplier
5/25/2011 8:46 AM EDT
Foxconn bids orders by taking lowest margin,so no surprise if they cut corners on safety or worker welfare. The most savvy US companies like HP and Apple outsource to the lowest cost bidders, of which Foxconn is the champion.
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Sheetal.Pandey
5/28/2011 3:08 PM EDT
Why is Foxconn remaining in the news for all wrong reasons.
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paulyvee
5/28/2011 10:58 PM EDT
So industrial accidents are not new. Why is this one news. Any deaths or injuries are regretable but why this one. Is it Foxconn - to be knocked at this time - China - knock them because they have a poor history or because of the liason with Apple. Not sure but I cannot see why all the hoo-haa.
A piss-head goes on the motorway and causes an accident claiming 5 and injuring a further six and it does not make it out of the local paper.
From what one hears the Chinese are making a real effort to drap a lot of their ancient practices into the current century and so are a lot of the local employers. Not there yet but they seem to be trying. Some British and American manufacturers are not blaimless even given the apparently much stricter laws so leave them alone. Although it is a good excuse for knocking the country when they are able to steal our production on the grounds of being more competitive be it for lower costs or better products or whatever reason.
Problem is that even if you knock them we would be unlikely to get production back if it stops there
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Bob Lacovara
5/30/2011 2:04 PM EDT
Paulyvee, you are correct: industrial accidents are not new, nor are they eliminated entirely by stricter laws in the US or EU or elsewhere. Foxconn's accident is being discussed because of two factors: one is the widespread reporting of China's less-than-stellar concern with workers (or even with the safety of their products) and secondly, Apple's glitzy, almost sanctimonious hype about what great products they make for "the people". Hey, maybe China is trying to improve its working conditions. Maybe Apple (whatever "Apple" means in this statement) does care about its workers and its customers. I'd discount the first statement as naivete and hype, and the second as hype and naivete, however. But then, I'm just a wee bit cynical. Apple doesn't seem to sell junky hardware, BTW. Its products are nicely built.
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Silicon_Smith
5/30/2011 11:40 AM EDT
A very sad news indeed and another jolt for the Apple supply chain.
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Neo1
6/7/2011 10:28 PM EDT
Foxconn is behemoth employing enough people to populate a large city. It is not surprising that they have accidents like this, since it is not totally avoidable. But we should not just jump to conclusions since these types of industrial accidents are not totally unexpected and these events will only make them adoopt better practices. How much safe is safe really, it's a trade off or risk vs cost and every company does this calculation based on their estimates.
So stop the blam game.
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