’Hazardous’ factories in China closed after deadly blast

16 August 2014 - Authorities in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou have shutdown more than 200 factories pending safety checks in the wake of a massive explosion at a car parts factory that killed at least 75 people. The blast tore through a polishing workshop owned by Taiwanese-invested Kunshan Zhongrong Metal Products on 2 August.

Authorities in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou have shutdown more than 200 factories pending safety checks in the wake of a massive explosion at a car parts factory that killed at least 75 people.

The blast tore through a polishing workshop owned by Taiwanese-invested Kunshan Zhongrong Metal Products on 2 August. Radio Free Asia reports that local officials have accused the factory management of a “very serious dereliction of duty,” blaming excessive metal dust for the explosion.

China’s cabinet, the State Council, has now ordered a comprehensive safety check on factories processing aluminium, magnesium, coal, wood, paper, tobacco, cotton and plastic, as well as other potentially flammable or explosive materials, state media said.
Chinese labour activists and academics have issued an open letter calling for workers to be given the right to supervise workplace safety.

And the Hong Kong–based advocacy group SACOM has called on all companies linked the car parts supplier - including GM contractor CITIC Dicastal, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Honda - to provide for victims’ compensation and healthcare, noting that their responsibility for safety issues had been “outsourced to developing countries.”

SACOM activist Pui Kwan Liang told US publication The Nation these firms have an obligation to “take concrete action to provide adequate resources to support their downstream suppliers,” to maintain the best safety protections and standards.