AFP

A song plays on an iPod.

London - Apple has failed to tackle the scandalous working conditions at its supplier iPod factories in China, six years after British newspaper The Mail on Sunday first exposed the company’s appalling record.

Workers are continuing to die and sustain injuries in horrific accidents as they are forced to work from morning to night for slave wages in sweatshop conditions.

The new allegations have been made by The New York Times, which found that Apple’s pledges to improve its safety record and working practices following the Mail’s2006 investigation have proved hollow.

Even though Apple’s own inspectors called for improved conditions, they have frequently been ignored, with whistle-blowers claiming the company pays only lip service to the issues in its relentless quest for profit.

The Mail on Sunday’s investigation revealed how Apple workers in China had to work 15 hours a day for £27 a month, and were made to sleep in dormitories and do push-ups as punishment. Since then Apple’s profits have soared more than tenfold - and last month the company reported a record £8.2-billion first-quarter profit. But the Chinese workers, employed by companies such as Taiwanese-based Foxconn, have seen little benefit.

According to The New York Times, The Mail on Sunday’s disclosures shocked executives at Apple’s HQ in Cupertino, California. “Apple is filled with really good people who had no idea this was going on,” a former employee told the paper. “We wanted it changed, immediately.”

The New York Times says that Apple found “consistent violations” of its code of conduct after inspecting 396 of its sub-contractor facilities.

More than half of the audits revealed problems, including employees regularly working more than 60 hours a week, underage workers, falsified records, wages below minimum levels, pay withheld as punishment and improper disposal of hazardous waste. More than 100 workers have been injured by toxic chemical exposures.

The New York Times added: “The workers assembling iPhones and iPads... work excessive overtime. Some say they stand so long that their legs swell until they can hardly walk.

“Two years ago, 137 workers at an Apple supplier in Eastern China were injured after they were ordered to use a poisonous chemical to clean iPhone screens. Within seven months last year, two explosions at iPad factories, including in Chengdu, killed four people and injured 77.”

Among the dead was Lai Xiadong, 22, whose girlfriend recalled seeing his horrific injuries in hospital, where he spent two days before succumbing. “Over 90 per cent of his body had been seared. A mat of red and black had replaced his mouth and nose,” she said.

The New York Times claims that in 2009 a Foxconn employee fell or jumped from an apartment building after losing an iPhone prototype. Over the next two years, at least 18 other Foxconn workers were linked to attempted suicides.

Another source told the paper: “We have spent years telling Apple there are serious problems and recommending changes. They don’t want to pre-empt problems, they just want to avoid embarrassments.”

After The New York Times article appeared, Apple chief executive Tim Cook promised in an email to staff: “We will continue to dig deeper, and we will undoubtedly find more issues. What we will not do - and never have done - is stand still or turn a blind eye.” - Daily Mail