Nike investigating faintings at Cambodian factory

Erik Siemers

Business Journal staff writer - Portland Business Journal

Nike Inc. on Tuesday said it is investigating working conditions at a Cambodian supplier after several hundred workers fainted while on the job last week.

The Phnom Penh Post reports that more than 300 workers at the Sabrina Manufacturing plant in Cambodia’s Kampong Speu province fainted in two separate incidents last week.

The Cambodia Daily reports that more than 100 female workers fainted last Wednesday in an event reportedly triggered by industrial glue used while tiling floor. But another 300 workers fainted Friday, after the tiling was completed.

Nike, in its statement, said it has also asked the International Labour Organization’s Better Factories Cambodia campaign to “include this incident in their current research into the causes behind mass faintings in the region.”

The Better Factories program was created in 2001 as part of a trade agreement in which the U.S. offered Cambodia better access to U.S. markets in exchange for improved working conditions at garment factories.

The Better Factories Cambodia program makes unannounced factory visits to check on working conditions and then reports its findings back to factory managers with suggestions for improvement.

Officials on Tuesday sent 100 workers home after arriving at the plant “because they looked exhausted” and the company wanted to avoid a third mass fainting, the Phnom Penh Post reported.

Though an official statement from a factory official attributed the faintings to workers being exhausted by “long nights of dancing,” the Phnom Penh Post quotes a union official who attributes the issue to long hours of work.

Though the union official — Ouk Lina, an administrative officer at the Free Trade Union — said the Sabrina plant was among the best in Cambodia, he also told the Phnom Penh Post that the garment industry pushes its workers hard, causing their health to decline.

In a statement Tuesday, Nike said it has been made aware of potential violations to the health and safety provisions within the company’s code of conduct.

“We take these matters very seriously and have sent in Nike's Sustainable Manufacturing auditing team to conduct an investigation and speak with workers,” the company said.

Nike said the audit should be concluded soon, and at that point the company would consider what steps to take.

The Cambodia Daily reports that Nike officials are planning to meet today with Pok Vanthath, deputy director of vocational safety for the Cambodia Labor Ministry’s health department.