More than 60 female workers fainted on the job at a shoe factory in Kandal province’s Ang Snuol district on Monday morning, a worker representative and a Labor Ministry official said.
The representative, Lieng Da, said that 62 women passed out after seeing a pregnant worker faint at the Taiwanese-owned Grand East Footwear International factory.
“First the pregnant woman fainted and then the rest of the workers fainted,” Mr. Da said.
“The fainting was caused by the hot temperature of the factory, which did not have enough fans and extractor fans, resulting in a strong chemical odor in the factory.”
Pok Vanthat, chairman of the Labor Ministry’s fainting research and prevention committee, said temperatures inside the factory reached 33.2 degrees Celsius Monday, and that the government was asking the factory to remain closed until Wednesday while its ventilation system undergoes improvements.
On Saturday, 50 workers fainted at another shoe factory in Kompong Chhnang province, while last week a factory in Svay Rieng province temporarily closed after more than 100 workers collapsed in two separate mass fainting incidents.
