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Explosion At Foxconn Factory Kills 2, Injures 16

Posted by Soulskill on from the don't-kill-yourself,-we'll-do-it-for-you dept.

arielCo writes "There are several reports in the news about an explosion in a Foxconn factory in Chengdu that manufactures the iPad 2, killing two workers and injuring another 16. 'The Chengdu Municipal government said the explosion occurred in Foxconn's "polishing plant" at around 7 p.m. Experts say it is likely a cleaning stage at the end of the production process after devices are assembled.' There's a short amateur video of the ensuing fire, taken during the evacuation. Apple said they are working with Foxconn to investigate."

24 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. Backfire? by pecosdave · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Is this what happens when you make everyone sign no suicide contracts?

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  2. Kind of sad by Nidi62 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Even the Foxconn buildings are trying to commit suicide now.

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    The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
  3. This is obviously... by Morphine007 · · Score: 2

    ... the rapture.

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    Oh god, that woman is John Romero!
  4. Begs the question... by Pollux · · Score: 2, Funny

    I suppose, if Apple is that much of a religion to Apple fans, then does that make these lost plant workers martyrs?

    1. Re:Begs the question... by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Funny

      And more importantly, do these martyrs get 72 free downloads from the App Store(tm)...

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      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    2. Re:Begs the question... by jdpars · · Score: 2

      I know I do, and I regret that. I hate that we buy our electronics made at factories like these. They're only made there because you can cut any corner you want in China, including actually paying your workers, and still sell in America. Why have we not told China to man up and get some human rights? We made the mistake of waiting to be well established before getting rid of slavery and underpaid immigrant workers (mostly, we're still working on that). If China could actually do the human rights thing now instead of later, maybe I'd have more respect for them.

    3. Re:Begs the question... by nysus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Capitalism is good at many things, but uplifting workers ain't one of them. The only thing will make apple respond is if it sees a consumer backlash which will pressure the, to allow these workers to form an autonomous union.

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      ---Technology will liberate us if it doesn't enslave us first.

    4. Re:Begs the question... by tukang · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Apple knows what's going on at Foxconn but still choose to do business with them. Outsourcing your dirty work does not absolve you of responsibility.

    5. Re:Begs the question... by h4rr4r · · Score: 2

      They could use another vendor if they did not like the way foxconn does business. I wish we knew which of these electronics OEMS ( foxconn, MSI, etc, not integrators like Apple) had the best labor practices. I would be sure to buy their products.

    6. Re:Begs the question... by jdpars · · Score: 2

      Old enough to know that the powers that be in the world could, if they wanted, actually accomplish that.

    7. Re:Begs the question... by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Huh. Really? Here in China, they had socialism for fifty years and everyone was dirt-poor. The real kind of socialism, the kind where it was illegal to make profit. Ever since Deng Xiaoping hijacked the people's revolution onto the capitalist road, each year has been better than the last, and it's showing no signs of stopping. Workers work a lot, but get paid a heck of a lot better than back on the farm. The last time I was in a small village, there was construction going on everywhere. New houses being built by money sent home from factory work.

      China already has a union for the workers. Didn't you get the memo?

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  5. Broken society by improfane · · Score: 2

    This probably wouldn't happen in the western world because we have some expectation of safety and working conditions. In a ideal world, we'd be manufacturing this sort of thing at home. Any form of economic prosperity in one area is balanced by a social or economic cost in another.

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    1. Re:Broken society by improfane · · Score: 2

      Why is it cheap there? Should it be? It's exploitation. Lack of safety makes it cheaper. Do you really think Apple cares?

      If that's not broken then I'm afraid to tell you what happens in the world because it won't make sense to you because cheaper is better, right?~

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    2. Re:Broken society by h4rr4r · · Score: 4, Informative

      It would not cost anywhere near that much extra. Germans still make cars, reasonable priced ones. They have much higher labor rates than even Americans. Paying line workers is just not that big a cost in such an operation. I bet they save more than the labor savings just on being able to dump whatever they want into the environment.

      Either way, there is no reason why these products could not be built in China by 40 hour per week, well paid workers in safe working conditions. The ipad 3 might cost a whole $10 extra of you did that.

    3. Re:Broken society by Sir_Sri · · Score: 2

      How is it exploitation? Cost of labour in india and china is cheap because they have huge, relatively under educated labour pools, poor access to jobs, etc. In short: they're poor. Labour is cheap, and they only way they will stop being less poor is if they get jobs and foreign investment, and frankly foreign ideas on how to actually be productive.

      Sure, china has less up to date (enforced) labour and safety standards than in the west. But 1: bad shit still happens here. And 2: they're 100 years behind because 100 years ago we were actually outright exploiting them (from the opium wars up through the partial occupation by japan etc.).

      In an ideal world they will catch up to our standard of living, or we will slide down to theirs, or, more likely, some combination of the two. And then you can specialize labour regionally etc. But right now they aspire to the lifestyle of a college student, because we walled them off and exploited them for so long.

      Now that we're actually trying to be fair to them with trade rules etc. we are struggling to compete, but that is an issue that will resolve itself with time.

    4. Re:Broken society by countertrolling · · Score: 2

      Any form of economic prosperity in one area is balanced by a social or economic cost in another.

      ?? Really? You believe in zero-sum? You can't have prosperity and freedom on all sides through cooperation and fair trade? I think we can.. if we want it...

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    5. Re:Broken society by h4rr4r · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The Ford Focus is a high-end car? Is the Ford Feista a high-end car?

      Cars are assembled closer to delivery points so they can be tailored for that market. The VW fox was designed for the South American market and is imported to Europe. Not because it is cheap, the Golf is produced in Germany. This because that is where the factory for them was built, since it was designed for the South American market. Imports to Europe came about after the car was a success in South America.

    6. Re:Broken society by tsotha · · Score: 2

      I remember those "pre-Reagan" years. Everybody was demanding (and getting) raises. We were so good at it, by the time we got our raise our paycheck was worth the same as last week. Well, actually, it was worth a little less than last week, since wages for normal people never keep up during inflationary times. You had to be in one of those big industrial unions to stay ahead. And where was that money coming from? The rest of us, of course. There's a reason things changed, just like there's a reason Americans are generally anti-union and anti-inflation.

      Unions don't make everybody better off at the expense of greedy corporations. Of course companies don't care what wages are as long as their competitors are paying the same wages. They just raise the price of whatever it is they're making. What unions do is make union members better off at the expense of everybody else.

      Oh and yes, damn those people and their "ill-gotten non-taxed wealth." Wait, who were those people, exactly?

    7. Re:Broken society by Sir_Sri · · Score: 2

      Given that my relatives are those workers. Yes, it's is definitely better for them. By leaps and bounds. Even comparing india of a decade ago with today. China is even more stark (as india is about 15 years behind china in development). In a decade they have gone from ~5% of our per capita income (on a PPP basis) to 15% (china that is), india went from about 2% to 5%, which is, in practice, still pretty big.

      Yes, it is in the interests of western society for the rest of the world to catch up. Ultimately their growth will benefit us all, more brains to come up with cool new stuff. Globalization *IS* good for them. It might be better for a bunch of rich corporate fat cats. But that doesn't mean it's isn't also good for them.

      They catch up with us as Germany, the US, Japan, Taiwan, South korea etc. all caught up with the leaders in their day: Trade, and a mostly free exchange of ideas. Which is what is happening more or less now with india and china. It's not perfect of course, but you can't take an area where average earnings are 3 or 4% of what they are here and expect it to be a smooth ride.

  6. We are to blame. by pro151 · · Score: 2

    We demand that our toys be delivered quickly and at the lowest possible cost. We are not willing to pay a fair price for a product built by happy people earning a decent wage. You can blame Apple, Microsoft, Google or whichever company you choose but the blame rests squarely on our shoulders. Flame suit on.

    1. Re:We are to blame. by h4rr4r · · Score: 2

      Bullshit, automation would be used if they could not exploit these folks. House sizes might shrink a little, but computers are cheap to make via automated processes. The models might change less often due to setup costs though.

  7. Just because by mrcvp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The worst thing about this story it that it would probably be unnoticed if it happened at any other factory in china. But now it's Foxconn and iPad 2 so now it's interesting.

  8. Massey coal mine? by decora · · Score: 2

    dude that happened like last year, more than 20 people got killed

  9. To all posts scored funny: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    People died. It's not funny,