Apple supplier Pegatron has confirmed that an explosion at one of the company's subsidiary plants has resulted in the injury of more than 60 employees. The blast occurred at a Shanghai factory operated by RiTeng Computer Accessory, which counts HP and Asus among its clients and is owned by Pegatron, an Apple supplier. Engadget reports that the company was in the middle of a trial production of aluminum iPad 2 back panels when the explosion happened.
According to a filing with the Taiwan stock exchange (via the Register), the incident took place at about 3pm on December 17. It is described as a minor explosion that "occurred at particle collecting equipments." Staff suffering injuries after the explosion were taken to the hospital. The filing, which was submitted on Friday, states they were kept in for observation.
The explosion is expected to have minimal impact on production or business operation and the company has said it will make 'the best effort' to provide medical treatment and assistance for affected employees. The equipment damaged by the explosion will be tuned and used once it has been adjusted. The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined, but a preliminary investigation points to aluminum dust.
This is the second explosion this year at an Apple supplier. Back in May, an explosion at one of the factories Apple uses to make the iPad 2 has claimed the lives of three workers.
But seriously,I'm sorry for the workers...God help them
One facility out of how many? Besides, HP and Asus are also Pegatron's clients. Our prayers would've worked if somebody would "accidentally" drop a small nuke on Apple HQ :)
Yeah they only say its Apple's supplier because they are a more newsworthy company, they get more clicks. This just goes to show that lax standards and regulations lead to accidents like this. Look at countries like Japan and Taiwan who have high standards in manufacturing for that they have a great reputation in manufacturing but because it's slightly more expensive to produce in those countries no company does it because it hurts the "bottom line". How many lives do these companies need to put a risk to make an extra $2 per unit?
The Apple devices are so eager to explode, they won't even wait for the battery to be put in nowadays. All the workers that make Apple-related components should automatically get a raise for working with explosives.