Labor violations at garment factory (1,000 workers): non-living wages; daily base wage 2,000-3,600 kyat (€1.51 – €2.71); occasions of workers toiling for less than legal minimum wage; cases of child labor (below 18 years of age); some workers were younger than 15 years old when they started at the factory; workers have not received health and safety training; inadequate protective masks; workers breathing in fabric complain over respiratory problems, coughs and sore throats; electrical and wire shocks; boiler accidents resulting to injury; about half the workforce does not receive social security.
Incident Tag: Injuries & Diseases
American Chipmakers Had a Toxic Problem. Then They Outsourced It (Korean Companies)
Study of 38,000 female medical records (between 2007-2012) working in three companies producing microchips found significantly elevated miscarriage rates most likely caused by factory use of highly toxic substances – ethylene glycol ethers – throughout the 1990s and 2000s.
The Blind _ A report on methanol poisoning cases in supply chains for Samsung and LG Electronics in KOREA
Report exposes occupational hazard and other violations at factories manufacturing cell phone parts: use of toxic substance methanol; inadequate health and safety training on the dangers of methanol; personal protective equipment not provided which led to exposure to workers’ eyes, skin and respiratory system; at least 6 workers developed acute methanol poisoning; eye sight loss and brain damage; 12 hour daily shifts; in busy season take a day-off/month; temporary workers often not registered for social insurance.
American Chipmakers Had a Toxic Problem. Then They Outsourced It (SK HYnix 2015)
Research extract of two factory plants in 2015 found usage of 130 chemical products deemed dangerous, containing carcinogens, mutagens, and reproductive toxins.
Officials: Cavite factory fire put out, all workers accounted for | 5th HTI fire victim dies in hospital
Fire breaks out at factory after mechanical accident; 5 reported deaths; 126 workers injured.
Meet Dorsen, 8, who mines cobalt to make your smartphone work
Investigation has found wretched working conditions in unregulated artisanal mines where cobalt is extracted for smartphones: abundant child labor; as young as four years old working; 12-hour daily shifts; workers earning as little as 8p a day; desperately dangerous conditions; exposure to cobalt and dust fumes; mine tunnels are dug by hand by miners who have no protective equipment; recent death reported due to mine collapse.
American Chipmakers Had a Toxic Problem. Then They Outsourced It (Suppliers)
Companies in the semiconductor industry accussed of outsourcing chip manufacture using the highly toxic chemicals “ethylene glycol ethers”, or EGEs in South Korea after 1995, when such substances were banned in their domicile for causing diseases such as cancer, miscarriages, leukemia, infertility and others.
S. Korean court says Samsung worker’s ovarian cancer caused by exposure to chip chemicals | Court: Chemicals caused Samsung chip worker’s ovarian cancer
Starting from 1993, a 6-year exposure to carcinogens (formaldehyde and phenol) caused ovarian cancer to young female worker at chip factory, resulting to her death in 2012 – Seoul Administrative Court says.
Workers’ welfare service with first recognition of leukemia contracted at Samsung LCD factory
Employee working for five years and seven months (between 2002-2008) in a Samsung Display LCD factory diagnosed with leukemia, contracted by exposure to carcinogens and other harmful substances with inadequate protective gear, Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service (COMWEL) says.
The Myanmar Dilemma (factory 5)
Labor violations at garment factory (1,500 workers): non-living wages; daily base wage 2,700-3,600 kyat (€2.03 – €2.71); occasions of workers toiling for less than legal minimum wage; regular work over 60 hours/week; at times as many as 68 hours/week; forced overtime; cases of child labor (16-18 years of age); labor at leasat 13-14 years of age; health and safety issues; cases of workers getting dizzy, stomach-aches or sometimes even faint due to heat and stress.