The bigger picture on Foxconn working conditions and how they may influence worker mental health
andrew watterson, University of Stirling. Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group
1 June 2012
The paper legitimately explores aspects of the Foxconn suicides relating to investigating temporal clustering and the role of the media. There are other aspects of these clusters which may be less familiar to BMC readers, however, that merit equal attention and public health action. These aspects may be one of the major underlying causes of the first suicides and they provide important contextualisation for the reported clusters. They include poor working conditions - hours, holidays and health and safety. A Fair Labor Association Report for Apple on the Chinese Foxconn plants was produced in 2012 after the Cheng paper was published in 2011. It reveals that in some plants , employees worked 60 hour weeks and 7% worked 60-70 hour weeks for several months. Also 7% of the workers in some plants worked without a rest period of 24 hours for seven days. Additionally the FLA found significant failings in health and safety management at the Fox conn plants and no active worker representation (www.fairlabor.org). Civil society bodies such as Good Electronics and SACOM (www.sacom.hk/archives/946) have provided further critiques of Foxconn linked to the suicides that merit serious attention by researchers.
The bigger picture on Foxconn working conditions and how they may influence worker mental health
1 June 2012
The paper legitimately explores aspects of the Foxconn suicides relating to investigating temporal clustering and the role of the media. There are other aspects of these clusters which may be less familiar to BMC readers, however, that merit equal attention and public health action. These aspects may be one of the major underlying causes of the first suicides and they provide important contextualisation for the reported clusters. They include poor working conditions - hours, holidays and health and safety. A Fair Labor Association Report for Apple on the Chinese Foxconn plants was produced in 2012 after the Cheng paper was published in 2011. It reveals that in some plants , employees worked 60 hour weeks and 7% worked 60-70 hour weeks for several months. Also 7% of the workers in some plants worked without a rest period of 24 hours for seven days. Additionally the FLA found significant failings in health and safety management at the Fox conn plants and no active worker representation (www.fairlabor.org). Civil society bodies such as Good Electronics and SACOM (www.sacom.hk/archives/946) have provided further critiques of Foxconn linked to the suicides that merit serious attention by researchers.
Competing interests
No financial or other competing interests