A team of officials, led by Chief Inspector of Factories S. Raghunathan and District Revenue Officer S. Sivarasu, inspected the Foxconn plant at Sunguvarchatram on Tuesday to ascertain the cause of the incident in which employees developed symptoms of giddiness on Friday.
A Foxconn official said that the contractor engaged for spraying of insecticide on the plant building wall on the outside and in toilets had inadvertently sprayed the pesticide, “malathyon,” on the corridor of the hall during lunch hour.
When the employees returned, some of them swooned from the smell of the pesticide which might have spread to the hall, which was not covered with false-ceiling or pucca ceiling.
All employees were rushed to Jaya Hospitals, Sriperumbudur. The doctors said that only a few had developed symptoms of giddiness and needed treatment, while others could be discharged, the official said.
Mr. Raghunathan directed the official to produce raw materials and samples of finished products for inspection to ascertain whether any chemical reaction during the process of assembly might have affected the workers.
Talking to reporters, Mr. Raghunathan said they suspect lack of proper functioning of ventilators and spraying of “malayhyon” as the prime causes for the incident.
“When we inspected the air suction ducts on the corners of the hall, we found they were not functioning. It was switched on subsequently,” he said, adding that he had directed the company to spray the insecticide at the same spot near the assembly hall to ascertain whether the nauseating odour had caused the problem.
Later in the evening, official sources said that the inspection committee had permitted the company to begin production in the unit.
