Workplace Safety in Manufacturing Industry: An Analytical Report

This research report investigates workplace health and safety issues within the manufacturing industry, particularly focusing on the challenges faced by employees at Apple suppliers Foxconn and Pegatron. The report identifies key issues such as excessive working hours, unpaid overtime, inadequate health and safety measures, accommodation problems, and insufficient training. The primary aim is to propose solutions to improve employee safety and well-being. The report recommends strategies like reducing working hours, increasing the labor force, enhancing work flexibility, and providing better accommodation to boost productivity and reduce workplace accidents. The study employs a literature review and research methodology to analyze these issues and provide a comprehensive understanding of the current situation, offering recommendations for positive change within the industry.

Running head: WORKPLACE SAFETY IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
Workplace Safety in Manufacturing Industry
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1WORKPLACE SAFETY IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
Executive Summary
The research report is based on current employee workplace health and safety issues into the
manufacturing industry. Safety is one of the key factors into the organization for to improve
productivity. The report is based on analyzing the employee issues into Apple’s biggest supplier,
Foxconn and Pegatron. The identified issues within the manufacturing industry are excessive
working hours, unpaid overtime, health and safety failing, accommodation problem and
improper training to work in the organization. The aim of this report is to solve the issues that the
employees of Apple are facing based on safety into the workplace. Reduction of total working
hours of the employees, increment of the labour force, working flexibility and providing of
accommodation get the work more productive. It helps to reduce the employee’s accidents in
future result into organizational productivity.

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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Identification and background of the complex industry issue...............................................3
2.0 Research aims and objectives....................................................................................................4
3.0 Literature review........................................................................................................................4
3.1 Issues faced by the employees in Foxconn............................................................................5
3.2 Solutions of the issues faced by the employees.....................................................................8
4.0 Research methodology.............................................................................................................12
4.1 Research Approach..............................................................................................................12
4.2 Research Design..................................................................................................................13
4.3 Data collection techniques...................................................................................................13
5.0 Human story.............................................................................................................................15
6.0 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................17
7.0 Recommendations....................................................................................................................18
References......................................................................................................................................19

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1.0 Introduction
In recent days it is seen that the working load is continuously increasing on the
employees of several manufacturing sector (Andrijasevic, Sacchetto and Gylen 2013). As a result
the safety of the employees is becoming a serious issue. In order to get more amount of the
production rate without hiring new people, the companies are increasing the work pressure to a
huge extent on the employees. Employees are one of the most import resources of an
organization but it is seen in many cases that the organizations are not taking proper safety
measures for the employee’s safety and security (Cassiman 2015). Foxconn is the largest
manufacturing unit and supplier of Apple in China and the situation of employees is most
pathetic in that industry. In this report the issues faced by the employees and the
recommendation to overcome those factors are discussed in details.
1.1 Identification and background of the complex industry issue
Employee’s safety is one of the most important parameter for the management of any
organizations. In many cases it is seen that the management of several organizations are careless
with the present issues which are faced by the employees of different manufacturing companies.
Employees mainly in the industrial units are facing such issues due to excessive working load
and long working hours (Christos 2015). In many cases it is also seen that the employees are o
even paid for working in overtime. The management is pretending to provide the employees
basic opportunities but in practical the scenario is showing completely opposite facts. Foxconn is
the largest manufacturing unit and supplier of Apple in China and the situation of employees are
most pathetic in that industry. The employees have nothing left in their personal like except
working for the manufacturing companies and as a result they are frustrated and also facing

4WORKPLACE SAFETY IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
several health related issues (Fee 2014). In this industry the employees are being treated like
machines. They have to work for long hours and they are not paid for working in overtime and as
a result the employees are facing health and safety issues. It is also seen that the employees are
escaping and also choosing to attempt suicide in several cases. In many cases employees are not
properly trained for the work and as a result they face a lot of difficulties in their works.
2.0 Research aims and objectives
The main aim of this report is to identify the issues faced by the employees and also to
solve the problems in order to increase the safety and security of the employees. Employees are
facing lots of issues like working for long hours and being unpaid for working in overtime
(Freeman and De Haan 2014). The organizations are basically trying to produce maximum
amount of work from the minimum amount of the employees. As a result they are increasing
working load on them. The objectives of the report are:
 To find out the reasons behind the issues which are faced by the employees
 To overcome with those issues raised into the organization
The huge amount of working hours should be decreased for the employees and they
should also be given proper accommodations for better work experience. The employees should
also be paid with a good amount so that they can fulfill all their basic requirements ( Gleiss
2016). The employees should be kept happy and motivated in order to get the best outcome from
them.

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3.0 Literature review
In this literature review the issues faced by the employees are discussed from several
aspects. In the manufacturing sector it is seen that several companies are increasing the working
pressure to a huge extent for the maximum productivity (He 2013). The working load is not only
increased on the employees of the organization in many cases but also it is seen that the
employees are also not paid for working in the overtime schedule. The employees are one of the
main resources in an organization and human resource should be taken care of for the best
productivity as they are the main working force of any company. Lee and Vachon (2016) stated
that in case of the industrial organizations there are many functions which are to be done by the
human resources. There are several types of works which need proper skills and the employees
are not also properly trained in many cases.
As a result the employees face a lot of difficulties in their work . Lüthje and Butollo
(2017) demonstrated that the employees have nothing left in their personal like except working
for the manufacturing companies and as a result they are frustrated and also facing several health
related issues. In this industry the employees are being treated like machines. They have to work
for long hours and they are not paid for working in overtime and as a result the employees are
facing health and safety issues.
3.1 Issues faced by the employees in Foxconn
Ma, Shang and Wang (2017) highlighted that Foxconn is the largest manufacturing unit
and supplier of Apple in China and the situation of employees are most pathetic in that industry.
From several sources it is known that the working condition is deteriorating and the work load on
the employees are increased to a huge extent. It is already reported that many employees are
escaping and also trying to suicide to become free from such tremendous work pressure. The

6WORKPLACE SAFETY IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
author says that many cases are found in which the labors have reported about decreased morale,
overcrowding, long hours in the Foxconn main production line and subsistence wages. The
working condition is not also healthy in Foxconn at all. Yan (2016) observed that there are
several places which are dirty and lots of explosions can be occurred in those places. In reality
some cases of explosions are also reported in the main working area in that manufacturing unit
also.
Around 1.2million employees work in the organization and most of them are of age
within 30 (Medina 2015). The employees require some quality time in their personal life to be
refreshed and they also may have some hobbies. In practical situation it is seen that the
employees have to work for long hours and in some cases they work more than 12 hours. Muller
(2016) argued that the workers also have to work for extra times in case of when the work load is
very much. The amount of money which they are paid is also very low. As a result the
employees cannot spend good time in their personal life and the quality of time for the employee
are not also good as they are very tired and frustrated after going through such work pressure in
the office. Ngai et al. (2014) demonstrated that in many cases it is also seen that the position of
the office for many employees is very bad as they come from long distances. It takes for them to
come to the office around 2 or 3 hours and again they have to journey for the same duration after
the office time. In that case the office does not provide proper transport opportunity and also
does not pay transport fee for the employees. There are many facilities like the swimming pool,
dining halls, book stores and other recreations but in fact the employees hardly get time to enjoy
those facilities in the office.
In many cases it is seen that the workers hardly get only a half of hour in the whole day to
eat their lunch. In this organization it is seen that the workers have to maintain the quality of

7WORKPLACE SAFETY IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
their work highly and they also have to work at least for 60 hours in a week (Niu et al. 2016).
For that reason the employees are not able to enjoy the facilities in the organization. They even
do not talk to each other due to the work pressure in the organization. For that reason the
working environment becomes bad in the organization and that also results in making the
employees more frustrated and also they lose motivation. Peng, Wong and Song (2016) cited that
it is illegal to make employees work for more than 36 hours in China. At least one holiday must
be given for the employees. In many cases it is seen that several employees had to work for
consecutive 13 days without taking any holiday. In that case the employees really face a lot of
difficulties for their huge working load. In many cases it is observed that the employees have
really broken down and demoralized due to such working load.
There are huge dormitories in the Foxconn factory which can afford 24 people in that
room and in many cases the employees cannot break the rules which are really very strict in case
of living in the dormitories (Rothlin and McCann 2016). It is really hard to stay in those
dormitories with such working environment. If the rules are broken then the employees are
humiliated in front of the whole office and these create huge mental pressure on them. It is
reported that during the peak production period the employees are also working for the company
for more than 12 hours and consecutive days more than 13 days.
During the introduction of the Ipad the employees had to work for more than 13 days and
they had to work for more than 12 hours in a day. For such issues the employees face serious
problems regarding their health. In many cases it is seen that the employees are facing health
problems due to the excessive working hour (Sacchetto and Cecchi 2015). Several mental issues
are also faced by the employees due to such working load. Carayon et al. (2015) mentioned that
in many cases it is seen that the employees are trying to escape and they want to attempt for

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suicide due to the huge working load. Literally the employees are treated as the robots and
machines in the company. The company is least bothered about their health and other wages.
They are only interested with the production and the output from the employees.
3.2 Solutions of the issues faced by the employees
There are several issues which are faced by the employees in the organization. These
issues are discussed in the above part of this report. There are many aspects for the employees
which can be made more advanced in order to decrease the huge amount of work pressure for the
employees (Sang et al. 2016). There are also several external pressures on the company to
decrease the working load for the organization. The main idea behind decreasing the working
pressure on the Companies is to motivate them and to increase the security of the employees.
The employees are the main resource for an organization and for that reason they should be taken
care of in several aspects.
Shen (2014) argued that there are many issues which should be first overcome in order to
make the employees relieved. It is already reported that many employees are escaping and also
trying to suicide to become free from such tremendous work pressure. The author says that many
cases are found in which the labors have reported about decreased morale, overcrowding, long
hours in the Foxconn main production line and subsistence wages. Waters (2017) mentioned that
the working condition is not also healthy in Foxconn at all. It is seen that there are several places
which are dirty and lots of explosions can be occurred in those places. In reality some cases of
explosions are also reported in the main working area in that manufacturing unit also. Around
1.2million employees work in the organization and most of them are of age within 30. The
employees require some quality time in their personal life to be refreshed and they also may have
some hobbies (Wu et al. 2016).

9WORKPLACE SAFETY IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
In practical situation it is seen that the employees have to work for long hours and in
some cases they work more than 12 hours. They also have to work for extra times in case of
when the work load is very much. The amount of money which they are paid is also very low. As
a result the employees cannot spend good time in their personal life and the quality of time for
the employee are not also good as they are very tired and frustrated after going through such
work pressure in the office (Yan 2016). In many cases it is also seen that the position of the
office for many employees is very bad as they come from long distances. It takes for them to
come to the office around 2 or 3 hours and again they have to journey for the same duration after
the office time. In that case the office does not provide proper transport opportunity and also
does not pay transport fee for the employees.
Zhao and Hu (2015) analyzed that there are many facilities like the swimming pool,
dining halls, book stores and other recreations but in fact the employees hardly get time to enjoy
those facilities in the office. In many cases it is seen that the workers hardly get only a half of
hour in the whole day to eat their lunch. In this organization it is seen that the workers have to
maintain the quality of their work highly and they also have to work at least for 60 hours in a
week. For that reason the employees are not able to enjoy the facilities in the organization. Hale,
Borys and Adams (2015) demonstrated that they even do not talk to each other due to the work
pressure in the organization. For that reason the working environment becomes bad in the
organization and that also results in making the employees more frustrated and also they lose
motivation. It is illegal to make employees work for more than 36 hours in China (Lüthje and
Butollo 2017). At least one holiday must be given for the employees. In many cases it is seen
that several employees had to work for consecutive 13 days without taking any holiday. In that
case the employees really face a lot of difficulties for their huge working load. In many cases it is

10WORKPLACE SAFETY IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
observed that the employees have really broken down and demoralized due to such working
load.
Following are the options for the management in order to increase the safety for the
employees of the organization. The Foxconn has taken several new steps regarding the increment
of the facilities provided to the employees (Rothlin and McCann 2016). The amount of wages
given to the employees should be increased to a better amount. The company should provide
many facilities and other funds and allowances for the employees in order to motivate them and
to encourage them for more productivity. Sacchetto and Cecchi (2015) observed that the
employees should be rewarded with money or other gifts from the organization for better
productivity and excellent work in order to make them motivated. The employees should also be
given several opportunities for promotion in the organization and that may be on the basis of
their performance and dedication level for the organization. The employees should be given
more appreciation for the work they do.
Wachter and Yorio (2014) cited that the next thing is to decrease the amount of working
hours for the employees. It is seen in many cases that the employees work for more than 12
hours in a day. The employees should not be allowed more than 8 hours a day for work. They
should also be given enough amount of recess time to make themselves fresh. The employees
should be given enough flexibility in the organization in order to increase the productivity of the
company (Lüthje and Butollo 2017). The main advantage of making the employees more
motivated and connected to the organization the employees must be given much time to talk and
communicate with other employees in order to increase the affection between the employees.
Medina (2015) stated that this kind of affection should increase the likeness of the employees for
working in the organization. The employees should also be free to spend some quality time in the

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organization so that they can utilize the facilities of the organization. They should always be free
to speak about the issues they are facing in the organization and they should also be given
enough amount of flexibility to protest in cases where they are being given pressure by the
management of the organization.
It is also an important concern related to the employees that they are not paid due to the
extra work they have to do in the overtime. The organization should increase the amount of
money they provide for the extra work the employees do for the organization (Christos 2015).
The main advantage of making the more amount of the money is that the employees are
motivated and they are also further interested in doing the overtime for the incentive they get
from the organization (Glendon, Clarke and McKenna 2016). The employees also are provided
with the better opportunities like the insurances and they are also provided with the
organizational facilities.
Andrijasevic, Sacchetto and Gylen (2013) demonstrated that the employees should also
be given at least one holiday in a week. It should be mandatory for them. They are also made
more motivated by the organization by giving them the facilities. The employees should also be
provided with the chances that they can give feedback about the organizational behavior which is
practiced with them. There are also many factors which are in general can be very useful for the
employees. Cassiman (2015) mentioned that some employees come from a long distance to the
office. The company should provide them some transport facilities and also they should be given
proper allowance for the transport. There are also many other medical facilities which can be
provided to the employees in order to assist them in case of any health related issues. Last but
not the least it is also seen that there are many cases found in which the manufacturing unit has
been reported of several blasts and explosions in the working area (Wei and Usman 2017). The