Editor’s note: We have decided to keep the reporter anonymous because of concerns about their safety.
In late 2012, Kang, an environmental safety officer working for Samsung, visited the company’s factory in Bac Ninh, Vietnam. The factory’s 16,000 workers, specializing in assembling high-tech electronics, churned out a hundred million of the company’s smartphones every year.
Bac Ninh is located in the industrial north of the country, among miles of lush green farmland. Here, suppliers for tech giants — from Apple to Microsoft, Samsung to Google — employ thousands of locals to work on production lines. The processes can involve powerful chemicals, used to paint, clean, and cool components in contained environments.
Kang, at the time a 30-year veteran of Samsung, thought he was on a routine visit to assess repairs after a fire incident. (Kang, who retired two years ago, requested use of his family name only to avoid reprisal from the company.) But as he stepped into the area of the factory where workers sprayed phone cases, an acrid smell hit his face.
Kang looked around. Many workers were covering their noses as they walked the floor, he told Rest of World. Some wore masks, but they looked...
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