Apple Inc. Health and Safety Measures Research Paper

Apple Inc. Health and Safety Measures - Research Paper Example The company is not free of controversies as it has been criticized for its business practices, labor, practices and its own environmental practices, some of them revealing horrific experiences. Particularly, where touch screens are produced, campaigners reveal horrific injuries that say they suffered due to being exposed to deplorable working conditions in factories which are said to have led to some of the staff committing suicide in the last two years. Protests have been seen in areas such as outside a flagship store in Hong Kong as pictures have allegedly shown injuries suffered under terrible conditions as well in Hezhou, China. Recent complaints and campaign by SATCOM add on the many complaints that have been aired in relation to the ill-treatment of employees in the apple Smartphone producing companies in china. One of the assertions of SATCOM is that the employees are forced to work for long hours; 11 hours a day, seven days a week and with just a 24hour break at the end of th e month. The SATCOM activists assert that the factories making Apple iPads and iPhones in China resulted to asking employees to sign pledges not to commit suicide, (Keize, 2013). This was attributed to 14 workers committing suicide 16months after employment on the basis of poor working conditions and inhumane treatment in the factories.... ent in the factories (Daily Mail Reporter, 2013) In addition, interviews with 170 workers and supervisors in several Foxconn factories in Shenzen and Zhengshou show that punishments are the primary management tools in the factories as SACOM (Students and Scholars against Corporate Misbehavior) says the workers had often been told to clean toilets, sweep lawns and confessions pinned on the notice boards or red out to colleagues, The Foxconn campus dormitories retain their pathetic living conditions with 20-39 workers sharing three bedroom flats; sleeping eight in a room in bunk beds. The workers are also not allowed to use electric items such as kettles or laptops and as well not allowed to sit when working as standing is ascertained as a means to keep them nimble enough to do their work effectively and for long, as reported by The Guardian, (2012). Other complaints in the media concerning the employee and Apple products users’ welfare include a recent story in the newspapers c oncerning an attempt by Apple to replace chargers in UK after iPhone injuries were reported on the use of the chargers. This followed after massive reports of people serious injured from faulty phone chargers; the chargers were said to have exploded on the users’ face as they connected them for charging. For example, the report from china asserts that a woman suffered eye injuries after her iPhone exploded on her face while talking on the phone. This is an indication that Apple has been providing faulty products to consumers and are thus in a hurry to fix the problem by replacing the faulty chargers (Apple Inc. 2013). Another related issue is the resend lawsuit by a woman on Apple on the assertion that her iPhone exploded on her face. This occurred while lying on her bed with the iPhone beside