Apple Announces Independent Factory Inspections

Apple has asked the Fair Labor Association, an independent labor rights organization, to conduct special audits of working conditions inside Chinese factories where iPhones, iPads and other Apple products are manufactured. And, in a significant about-face for the company that has the potential to affect the electronics industry, Apple asked the organization to identify particular facilities where abuses are discovered.

Inspections started Feb 13 at a factory in Shenzhen, China, known as Foxconn City, which is one of the largest plants within China, with more than 230,000 workers. Human rights advocates have long said that Foxconn City’s employees are subjected to long hours, coerced overtime and harsh working conditions, all of which Foxconn disputes. Working conditions in Foxconn factories, including safety lapses that led to worker deaths. At Apple’s request, the labor group will also conduct audits of Apple’s other main assembly factories, including Foxconn’s plant in Chengdu and facilities run by Quanta and Pegatron, where the bulk of iPhones, iPads and other devices are made. Separate explosions last year at Foxconn’s iPad plant in Chengdu, and Pegatron’s iPad plant in Shanghai killed four people and injured 77. When completed, Apple said, the association’s inspections will cover factories where more than 90 percent of Apple’s products are assembled.