Herausgeber: War on Want, Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM), IHLO, the Hong Kong Liaison Office of the international trade union movement, Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC)

Schlagwörter: Sand-Blasting, China, Gesundheitsgefährdung, Jeans

Kurzbeschreibung:

New report finds that Chinese factories are using banned sandblasting techniques on jeans.

Activists will today demand urgent action from governments and companies to stamp out the continued use of sandblasting and other unsafe finishing processes in the manufacture of denim jeans.  The call comes in a new report into conditions in six denim factories in the Chinese province of Guangdong, a region responsible for half of the world’s entire production of denim jeans.

The report, finds that sandblasting is still widespread in China in order to give jeans a worn or ‘distressed’ look, despite most Western brands banning the practice three years ago because of its link to silicosis, a deadly lung disease that has already caused the deaths of many garment workers.

One worker interviewed said: “In our department, it’s full of jeans and black dust. The temperature on the shop floor is high. It's difficult to breathe. I feel like I’m working in a coal mine.”

The new research, based on interviews with workers in the factories themselves, also revealed that workers are exposed to other dangerous finishing techniques to distress denim, including hand-sanding, polishing, dye application and spraying chemicals such as potassium permanganate, with limited protective gear and inadequate training in the proper use of equipment.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2013

Umfang: 38 Seiten

Sprache: Englisch

Zielgruppe: Erwachsene

Bezug: kostenfrei als PDF-Download

Herausgeber: Fair Trade Center, Cristopher Riddselius, The Fair Trade Centre is an Active Member of the Swedish Clean Clothes Campaign

Schlagwörter: Sandblasting, Sandstrahlen, Gesundheitsprobleme, Krankheiten, lebensgefährlich, Denim, Jeans, Silicosis

Kurzbeschreibung: This report, by the Swedish Fair Trade Centre in cooperation with the Clean Clothes Campaign, offers a report on sandblasted denim. Treating denim to make the fabric look worn or faded is common within the clothing industry. Different methods can be used to create the desired finishing effect. One such method is sandblasting, which can be extremely damaging to workers’ health if performed without suitable protective equipment. The large amounts of silica dust generated during the process can cause silicosis, a potentially lethal pulmonary disease, as workers inhale of tiny particles of silica. In 2009, Turkey prohibited manual sandblasting with silica, something that resulted in a major decline of the practice throughout the country. Until that time, manual sandblasting had been commonplace, especially within the informal sector. Sandblasting has often been performed by migrant workers during long work shifts, in cramped, unhygienic treatment rooms without ventilation or safety equipment. In some cases workers even slept on site.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2010

Umfang: 20 Seiten

Zielgruppe: Erwachsene

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: Kostenfrei als Web-Text

Herausgeber: Clean Clothes Campaign, Study conducted by AMRF in Association with CCC and NGWF

Schlagwörter: Sandblasting, Sandstrahlen, Gesundheitsprobleme, Krankheiten, lebensgefährlich, „worn-out-look“, verwaschen

Kurzbeschreibung: Sandblasting has become the key method for finishing most modern jeans requiring that ‘worn-out’ look. Under the sandblasting process the denim is smoothed, shaped and cleaned by forcing abrasive particles across it at high speeds. The process is fast and cheap and demand for pre-worn denim has led to a massive rise in its use. But this fashion comes at a price: the health and even the lives of sandblasting workers.

Erscheinungsjahr: 2012

Umfang: 56 Seiten

Zielgruppe: Erwachsene

Sprache: Englisch

Bezug: Kostenfrei als PDF-Download