Fainting report finds heat, hysteria
The results of an investigation into two mass fainting incidents at a factory in Kampong Chhnang confirmed that M&V International Manufacturing had violated Cambodian labour law by forcing some staff to work overtime and failing to give them a full day off each week, according to the report on the investigation. The occupational hygiene assessment report – commissioned by one of the factory’s customers, global retailer H&M – also concludes that the mass fainting incidents on August 23 and 25, in which about 250 staff in total collapsed, were a “case of mass psyschogenic illness (MPI)” triggered by work-related and personal stress. MPI is also known as “epidemic hysteria” and “mass hysteria”, the report says, adding that it mainly affects women…
