Proposed revision of text about iPad manufacturing conditions In May 2010 national newspapers in the UK reported on documented allegations of inhuman working conditions involved in the manufacture of Apple s iPad on the eve of the UK release The Independent carried a front page headline A gadget to die for with a picture of an iPad next to a photo of one of the dead workers Three national newspapers and other sources reported how in the first five months of 2010 a series of nine suicides plus two suicide attempts that resulted in severe injuries and twenty suicides that were averted had taken place at Foxconn s factory complex in Shenzhen China linkining these to the manufacture of the iPad Conditions at Foxconn are said to be better than other factories in China and the rate of suicides at the factory complex is less than the overall suicide rate in China The Independent reported documentation revealing widespread failures in most of the 102 supppliers to Apple Apple expressed upset about the situation and that they intend to investigate the conditions at the plant Concerns have been expressed about working conditions at Foxconn specifically and in the electronics manufacturing industry as a whole especially the long hours of overtime many workers were doing Foxconn has started to improve conditions at the factory by providing mental health staff for their workers as well as fitting nets around the buildings so that further suicide attempts are less likely to succeed