Three of the world's largest IT companies said yesterday that they were investigating working conditions at Foxconn after a series of suicides at the huge manufacturing plant in southern China they use to make electronic goods.

　　全球三大IT公司昨日表示，它們正在對富士康(Foxconn)的工作條件展開調查。此前，在富士康位于華南的大型制造業園區，先后出現一系列自殺事件。富士康為這三家IT公司代工生產電子產品。

　　Nine workers at Foxconn's Shenzhen plant, which employs and houses 300,000 people, have died after falling off buildings since the beginning of this year, the latest on Tuesday. Police have confirmed seven of the cases as suicide. Two other workers attempted to kill themselves by jumping off buildings but survived.

　　富士康深圳園區雇傭著30萬名工人，這些工人就居住在園區內。自今年初以來，已有九名工人墜樓身亡，最新一起出現在本周二。警方已經證實，其中七起為自殺。此外，還有兩名工人跳樓自殺，但大難不死。

　　The suicides have forced the normally secretive Taiwanese company – which makes products such as smartphones and digital cameras under contract for many of the world's biggest technology companies – to be more open about its working practices.

　　這些自殺事件已迫使通常處在保密狀態的富士康提高其工作實踐的透明度。這家臺灣公司為許多全球最大的高科技公司代工生產智能手機和數碼相機等產品。

　　Apple, one of Foxconn's main customers, said a team from the US group was independently evaluating the steps the Taiwanese group was taking “to address these tragic events” and would continue inspections of the facilities where its products are made.

　　身為富士康主要客戶之一的蘋果公司(Apple)表示，它派出的一支小組正對富士康采取的“應對此類悲劇性事件”的舉措進行獨立評估。蘋果公司還會繼續實地考察為自己代工生產產品的工廠。

　　Hewlett-Packard said it was “investigating the Foxconn practices that may be associated with these tragic events”. Dell said it expected suppliers to stick to the same high standards it had in its own facilities and was enforcing these standards through a variety of tools.

　　惠普(HP)表示，它正在“對富士康的那些可能與此類悲劇性事件有關的實踐展開調查”。戴爾(Dell)則表示，它期望供應商恪守與戴爾旗下工廠相同的高標準，并正通過各種方式，讓供應商執行這些標準。

　　It emerged on Tuesday that Foxconn had asked workers to sign a form in which they agreed to ask no more than legal compensation from the company for eventual injuries not caused by the employer, including from suicide attempts.

　　本周二傳出消息稱，富士康曾要求工人簽署一份協議，要求工人答應：若發生非公司責任原因導致的意外傷亡事件（含自殺），絕不向公司提出法定賠償之外的過當訴求。

　　A Foxconn manager said the company had paid the families of the dead workers some money to express its sympathy, but management was worried that the practice was encouraging copycat suicides.

　　富士康的一位經理表示，公司向墜樓身亡工人的家屬支付了一些賠償金以表示同情，但公司管理層擔心，這種做法會鼓勵其它工人仿效自殺者。

　　Mr Gou yesterday said he was taking back the contract limiting the company's responsibility as he felt the language was inappropriate.

　　郭臺銘昨日表示，他將收回這份限定公司責任的協議，因為他覺得協議內容的表述失之偏頗。