Death at Foxconn questions plant safety

MANUFACTURING         SAFETY

China - Another death at an iPhone factory in China has brought the issue of safety in manufacturing plants back in the spotlight.

The 19 year old employee died after falling from a high building at Foxconn, a Taiwanese firm also known as Honhai. Nine people have died from falling off the building at this factory this year, two others were seriously injured.

The factory makes mobile phones, games consoles and computers for companies like Apple, Hewlett Packard and Sony.

Police are not saying yet if this was a suicide attempt, a suspicious death or an accident, reported the BBC.

Some have wondered if the deaths were suicides, as a result of being overworked. The company's founder had denied he worked his staff too hard earlier this year, and had promised a plan to improve working conditions within a month.

The company, which has admitted it stopped a further 30 people trying to throw themselves off high buildings in a three-week period earlier this year, has since started playing music to workers on the assembly line to try to ease the pressure on them.

They have also started to recruit singers, dancers and gym trainers to help off duty staff relax and it promises to employ more psychiatrists as well.

The incident has refocused efforts on the part of global companies to ensure manufacturers in their supply chains adhere to proper safety regulations.

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