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NEWS > BUSINESS >FIRST ROBOT AT FOXCONN FACILITY COMMITS SUICIDE
FIRST ROBOT AT FOXCONN FACILITY COMMITS SUICIDE
August 2 2011
Shenzhen, China – In an effort to alter public perception and to presumably speed efficiency, infamous electronics manufacturer Foxconn has started to replace its human workers with robots, which they hope will be a little more stable than their flesh and blood counterparts.
Foxconn is the is one of the largest third-party manufacturers in the world, producing products for major companies such as Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, and Apple but has come under fire in recent years for less than safe working conditions and worker suicides.
In response, the Taiwanese company has increased wages, altered safety protocols, and installed nets outside windows to prevent suicides. However, the introduction of robots appears to be their most robust effort yet to increase worker safety by taking a majority of the load from stressed humans. Already though it appears that a number of the machines have succumbed to the same stresses as their human counterparts with at least three devices which have quit completely.
“We are aware that some of our new workers have had issues and we are currently investigating these issues. We are very aware and very concerned about worker safety no matter whether they are made of flesh or steel. All our workers are important,” said a Foxconn official. “We investigate every such incident thoroughly and
we will do the same here. We are not in the business of having our workers harm themselves.”
It appears that the machines in question had been working double and triple shifts. It’s not clear what ultimately killed them as they are bolted to the floor and do not possess self –awareness, making them unable to leap from windows.
“We have heard about the latest incidents at one of the Foxconn facilities and we are supporting them in their investigation. We are very concerned about the health and safety of all workers at all our facilities,” said a spokesperson for Dell, one of Foxconn’s clients. “We will work with the company in order to ensure that all safety and health procedures are in place. We will have further comment when the investigation is completed.”
The machines in question have been removed from the facility. Their spots have been replaced with nearly identical robots.
“This type of thing is going to happen. People think it’s a result of bad working conditions, long shifts, bad pay, exposure to toxic metals and chemicals and other such variables and while that certainly plays a role, the company has over a million people. With that many people there are going to be a few bad seeds,” said Scrape TV Business analyst Ken Green. “You can’t look at this and blame the company for everything. They hire people and like any company they don’t do detailed psychological checks. They don’t know if these people had bad childhoods or if they are mentally ill and it’s not their responsibility. They build things, that’s what they do. They are going to have a few jumpers with that many people. That’s just the way it goes. These robots, well, it’s going to happen there too. Nothing is perfect.”
Thus far there have been no further reports of robot dissatisfaction or revolt.
William Ashford, Business Correspondent
NEWS > BUSINESS >FIRST ROBOT AT FOXCONN FACILITY COMMITS SUICIDE
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