Three contract workers died on Monday at a factory owned by Indian Apple supplier Tata Electronics, reports Reuters. The trio were performing maintenance at a wastewater treatment plant at the Tata facility when they inhaled gas while inspecting a nano-filtration tank.
The facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu manufactures components for the iPhone, and is operated by Nalco Water. The workers were employed by a subcontractor.
The facility was closed for Diwali, so the incident did not affect iPhone production because
Apple, Tata Electronics, and state officials will all look into the incident, and Apple is sending personnel to assist in the investigation.
Tata has not had a good go of it over the last few years.
A 2024 fire in a chemical storage area disrupted production at a Tata plant for several days. The conflagration originated in the mobile phone accessories. While Swift action was taken to ensure the safe evacuation of all employees, as a fleet of seven fire tenders were deployed to combat the blaze.
Tata was also the target of a cyberattack earlier this year, with hackers stealing confidential Apple files. Ransom group World Leaks shared more than 200,000 files belonging to customers, including Apple and Tesla. Much of the leaked documents reportedly contained designs for components, as well as specification papers. One 52-page Apple document reportedly included proprietary markings, as well as details about quality inspection standards for iPhone circuit board components. Among the purloined files were emails, event logs spanning multiple years, and copies of employees passports.
In June, Tata faced a health probe over the alleged contamination of farmlands near one of its iPhone parts plants. An Indian state health authority investigated how liquid discharged from Apple supplier Tata’s iPhone components factory affected farmers, some of whom complained about skin issues from contamination in their farmlands.
