China Pushes Hon Hai, Peers to Improve Safety

China's government said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. and other Taiwan companies operating on the mainland should strengthen safety measures after a deadly explosion at one of the electronics manufacturer's plants, a facility where labor activists have criticized working conditions.

In a news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday, Fan Liqing, spokeswoman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the explosion at a workshop in one of Hon Hai's Chengdu factories, which killed three and injured 15, has been recognized as a 'product-safety accident.' She said Beijing hopes Hon Hai and other Taiwan-funded companies 'draw lessons from the accident,' strengthen internal monitoring and take precautions to ensure safe production.

The official's comments weren't so harsh as to suggest additional trouble for Hon Hai, which makes iPads and iPhones for Apple Inc. as well as devices for Sony Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and others. Hon Hai, which uses the trade name Foxconn, has suspended production at polishing workshops like the one where the accident occurred. Officials at that plant said they are cooperating fully with a government probe of the blast.

Still, Ms. Fan's comments marked a rare public chiding by the government for a company that is one of China's biggest employers, with about a million workers at sites across the country.

In a written statement, Hon Hai said, 'We have a shared commitment with the government to doing everything possible to ensure the health and safety of all Foxconn workers.'

Ms. Fan's remarks follow allegations from a Hong Kong-based labor-rights group that the explosion, which Hon Hai says was likely caused by combustible dust, could have been prevented if Hon Hai had better ventilation systems within its polishing workshops. The group, Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior, or Sacom, said it warned Hon Hai before the explosion to take measures to protect workers from inhaling dust in its polishing workshops.

Sacom on Tuesday released a video made before the accident showing men covered in silver-colored dust. The group said the men worked at another of Hon Hai's Chengdu facilities.

Hon Hai has rejected Sacom's criticism, saying in response to the video and allegations that it is 'addressing this challenge through improvements in workshop ventilation and the air-conditioning system,' among other changes to its policies and practices. The company added that the cause of the explosion is still under investigation, and that it would 'not hesitate to immediately implement' any specific measures where enhancements can be made to its facilities.

The explosion isn't expected to have a significant impact on Hon Hai's output unless the investigation of its facilities leads to a prolonged suspension. Hon Hai said this week that tests of the affected workshops could be finished in a matter of days, and Sony said the incident 'will have no impact' on its PlayStation and television businesses, for which it uses Hon Hai as a contract manufacturer.

Hon Hai is the world's largest contract manufacturer, with more than $80 billion in revenue last year.

Experts say industrial combustible dust is a common problem in China. Five accidental polishing-related explosions occurred in the country last year, resulting in several deaths, according to Zhong Shengjun, associate professor at the Industrial Explosion Protection Institute of Northeastern University in Shenyang. The U.S. has also had a number of combustible-dust accidents, with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration listing at least 10 deaths from more than 100 accidents since 2002.

China's State Administration of Work Safety publishes warnings on its website about combustible dust, including one as recently as this month, but Mr. Zhong said national fire-protection standards are inadequate for preventing such accidents. 'Many corporate leaders and operations staff do not have any knowledge of dust explosions,' he said.