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Deadly Fire, China - 2023

 

Picture of the burned factory hall.

Picture of the burned factory hall. © https://www.163.com/ as of https://maps.clb.org.hk/?i18n_language=en_US&map=2&startDate=2023-11&endDate=2023-11&eventId=2023112114142933093

On the evening of 20 November 2023, a fire broke out on the first floor of a textile factory in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, killing seven workers on the fourth floor of the five-storey building. The fire also damaged nearby warehouses and workshops. 

Domestic media reported that all seven workers who lost their lives were women migrant workers from Guizhou and Shandong provinces. They were employed at the building owned by Wuxi Tiantianrun Textile & Technology Co. Ltd (锡天天润纺织科技有限公司), which produces fancy yarns for the international market. The fourth floor where they worked was rented out to another corporate entity that China Labour Bulletin (CLB) has not been able to verify. 

Tiantianrun is one of the major fancy yarns manufacturers in China and supplies to notable brands including Lion Brand Yarn (U.S.) and to retailers including TEDi (Germany), Action (Netherlands), and Hema (Netherlands).  

Nearby workers told Apex News that over 200 people worked at Tiantianrun, while the company’s 2022 annual report indicates that 94 employees were registered for social security payments. CLB found that according to the corporate database Tianyancha, the company “had not provided authentic or complete data” to the local authorities. 

The Tiantianrun factory fire began on the first floor of the building, which - along with the third and fifth floors - was warehouse space. The second and fourth floors are production line workshops.  

A safety inspection of nearby premises was conducted after the fire to eliminate other safety hazards. But as CLB has advocated for years, post hoc inspections cannot bring back the lives of those lost in workplace accidents.  

China’s safety management system should better prevent accidents before they occur - rather than simply responding after the fact. Further, China’s official trade union has a role to play in understanding and eliminating the risks apparent to front-line workers and that are systemic across a particular industry.  

Although the official investigation report of the Tiantianrun factory fire will likely not be available for several months, the characteristics of this incident, as reported by eyewitnesses to domestic media, follow patterns of well-known safety risks in the industry.  

The similarities to the November 2022 fire that took the lives of 42 garment factory workers in Anyang, Henan province, are striking. For example, the practice of crowding warehouse space and factory space in the same building presents dangers to workers when flammable materials are not properly stored.

 

Picture of the burned factory hall.

Photo: © https://www.163.com/ as of https://maps.clb.org.hk/?i18n_language=en_US&map=2&startDate=2023-11&endDate=2023-11&eventId=2023112114142933093

Basic Information

Case ID: 2023-002

Identification Number from Open Supply Hub (OS-ID): CN2020351QR5SS4

Open supply hub link

Affected Country: China

Date of occurrence: 2023-11-20

Social Sector Risks concerned:

  • Occupational Safety and Health (Conventions Nr. 155 & 183 & 184; Recommendations Nr. 164 & 192)

Supplier Details

WUXI TIANTIANRUN TEXTILE & TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD
No 5 Longtan Rd.

Qianzhou Industrial Zone

Wuxi

214181

Jiangsu

China

Supplier Website: http://www.tianrunchina.com

Production Site

WUXI TIANTIANRUN TEXTILE & TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD
No 5 Longtan Rd.

Qianzhou Industrial Zone

Wuxi

214181

Jiangsu

China



Total number of workers/employees:
501-1.000 (according to company website)  

No gender specific information available.

Workers movement

No information about unions available.

No information about workers commitee available.

Business Relations

Known Buyer/Brands:

  • Action Deutschland GmbH
  • HEMA Deutschland GmbH
  • TEDi GmbH & Co. KG



At least one of the buyers has the duty to report according to the Supply Chain Act / CSDDD.

Follow up

Are there any reactions to the follow up: no information

Sources

Name of reporting organisation: China Labour Bulletin

Source of information about the case:

https://clb.org.hk/en/content/fire-export-oriented-yarn-factory-jiangsu-kills-seven-female-migrant-workers

Contributor: SÜDWIND

 

  • Last updated on .

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