H&M to Launch Probe After Workers Faint at Cambodian Factory

H&M to Launch Probe After Workers Faint at Cambodian Factory

30 August 2011

ScandAsia.com

Swedish fashion brand H&M has
said it will launch an investigation into fainting incidents at a
Cambodian clothes factory which provides some of its knitwear.

Nearly 300 employees at the
M&V International Manufacturing Ltd. factory fell ill last week,
according to the local newspaper, the Phnom Penh Post.

According to the local daily,
284 workers fainted over two days – 86 on Tuesday and 198 on Thursday.
Another 40 workers fainted at a separate factory in the Dangkor
district.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has
ordered Ministry of Labour officials to quickly investigate and resolve
the problems leading to the mass faintings.

Meanwhile, H&M has said it
is aware of the "discomforting incidents" and it is "preparing for a for
a thorough in-depth analysis". The popular retailer added that no
"plausible causes" had been found yet.

According to the local media,
some workers at the Kampong Chnnang factory claim they have had to work
up to six hours overtime a day for the past two months.

Union representative Norn
Leakhena told the Phnom Penh Post that bosses at the factory also forced
workers to stay in the factory until 11pm from January to March.

According to the Union, people regularly faint while in the factory, particulary when they are working near the laundry room.

Management at M&V
International Manufacturing have denied the allegations of forced
overtime and a “toxic” working environment. One executive told the local
reporters that the fainting was caused by “poor health” and a “strange
psychological phenomenon”.

"In China, this kind of thing is
unthinkable. We cannot understand how this happens so often in
Cambodia," the unnamed executive reportedly said.