www.bbc.com Open in urlscan Pro
151.101.64.81  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

LET US KNOW YOU AGREE TO COOKIES

We use cookies to give you the best online experience. Please let us know if you
agree to all of these cookies.

Yes, I agree

No, take me to settings

BBC Homepage
 * Skip to content
 * Accessibility Help

 * Sign in


 * Home
 * News
 * Sport
 * Earth
 * Reel
 * Worklife
 * Travel
 * More menu

More menu
Search BBC
 * Home
 * News
 * Sport
 * Earth
 * Reel
 * Worklife
 * Travel
 * Culture
 * Future
 * Music
 * TV
 * Weather
 * Sounds

Close menu
BBC News
Menu
 * Home
 * Israel-Gaza war
 * War in Ukraine
 * Climate
 * Video
 * World
 * UK
 * Business
 * Tech
 * Science

More
 * Entertainment & Arts
 * Health
 * World News TV
 * In Pictures
 * BBC Verify
 * Newsbeat

 * Asia
 * China
 * India




CAMBODIA: FAST FASHION HELPS FUEL BLAZING KILNS WHERE WORKERS FAINT FROM HEAT

Published
2 days ago

Share
close panel
Share page
Copy link
About sharing
Related Topics
 * Climate

Image source, Thomas Cristofoletti/ BBC
Image caption,
Researchers have documented the health impact on brick kiln workers, who toil in
some of the world's hottest conditions
By Laura Bicker
in Phnom Penh, Cambodia


Chantrea drags an electric fan the size of a large door into the airless chamber
where she works every day.

It is her only respite from the heat inside the brick kiln that looks more like
a dimly lit tomb.

"It's like working inside a burning prison," the 47-year-old says as she stacks
the dried bricks, which will be moved to a warehouse. "I have asked the owners
to provide us with more fans. But they won't because it will cost more money."

The fan she does have slowly clunks as it starts, eventually whirring into
action. It barely creates a breeze.

How hot is too hot to work? It is a question researchers have found the answer
to here, in Cambodia's brick kilns, where people toil in some of the hottest
working conditions in the world, fuelled in part by the scraps of fast fashion.

The BBC spoke to several workers who said they sweat so much through the day
that it felt like they were in a hot bath. Fainting is common too, possibly
because they become dehydrated. Their names have been changed because they fear
reprisals from their employers.



In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers have tried to document how this
sustained exposure to extreme heat is affecting workers' health.

Special sensors recorded the core temperature of 30 workers at these kilns over
a week and showed that they all had heat stress, or core temperatures of more
than 38C. This can cause fatigue, dizziness, nausea and headaches.

A healthy body temperature usually ranges from 36.1C to 37.2C. Body temperature
over 38C is symptomatic of a fever. Some workers had core temperatures of 40C,
which can lead to heat stroke, resulting in convulsions, eventual loss of
consciousness and even death, if not treated early.

Image source, Thomas Cristofoletti/BBC
Image caption,
Workers say the fresh bricks often burn them through their gloves

One worker told researchers that he had suffered from heart failure due to the
heat. But he eventually returned to work because this was the only way he knew
to earn a living.

This is only made worse by a warming climate and Cambodia's own weather - last
May it hit a new high with 41.6C during the hottest year on record. As global
temperatures soar, even a small increase could mean the difference between life
and death for the tens of thousands of brick kiln workers across Asia.

"One of the big narratives that I hear again and again is that we're all in this
[climate change] together. But that's absolutely not true. Some of us are a lot
more in it than others," said Laurie Parsons at Royal Holloway University, who
authored the study.




CLOTHES CARRYING TOXIC TRACES

It's a humid afternoon outside the kiln, on the outskirts of Cambodia's capital,
Phnom Penh. Inside, where Chantrea is stacking bricks, it is stifling.

But she is covered from head to toe in clothes that hang off her tiny frame -
her only shield against the searing heat and dust. If the bricks are too hot,
her skin blisters.

The kilns themselves are enclosed by brick walls and sealed. Workers stay
outside and feed wood though a hatch to keep the fire hot enough, usually around
1500C to set the clay bricks. Once that happens, they stop fuelling the flames
and when the heat seems less unbearable, they enter the chamber.

 * The last chance to save a mighty river
 * The shadowy Chinese firms that own chunks of Cambodia

There is no data on the average temperature inside the kilns as it is hard for
researchers to gain access. It's also hard to know how many workers fall ill or
worse because of the heat.

Injuries from falling bricks are not uncommon, according to Chantrea. And
workers told the researchers from the UK that the bricks often burn them, even
through the gloves.

Outside the kiln, Kosal, a father of two, scoops up a mix of fabric, plastic and
rubber that he shoves into the hatch before shutting it quickly. Black smoke
seeps through the cracks as children - his and other kiln workers' - run past.


Image source, Thomas Cristofoletti/ BBC
Image caption,
Bags bursting with clothing scraps are a cheaper source of fuel for the kilns -
but they carry toxic traces

"I am used to the black smoke. I don't notice it any more," he says. "I have to
keep these fires burning for 24 hours. My wife and I split the work between us."

The children crawl over bags bulging with clothing offcuts - more fuel for the
kiln from Cambodia's $6bn garment industry.

But what may initially appear a solution to the unwanted scraps of the country's
1,300 garment factories is actually hiding its own deadly secret.

According to a 2018 report - Blood Bricks - by UK academics at Royal Holloway,
these scraps have traces of chlorine bleach, formaldehyde and ammonia, as well
as heavy metals, PVC and resins used in the dyeing and printing processes. The
report also found that brick factory workers reported regular migraines,
nosebleeds and other illnesses.

 * The country where Kissinger left a legacy of death and chaos
 * The record summer that scorched Asia

Kosal's three-year-old girl, her hair caked in dust, skips past a pile of
Disney-labelled clothing. Most are flannel pyjamas embossed with images of Anna
and Elsa from Frozen. They are made for children living in colder climates.

Most Western fashion labels have strict codes of conduct to stop this from
happening. A Disney spokesperson told the BBC that the company was investigating
the claim and that it "did not condone the conditions alleged in this
situation".

The BBC also found labels from Clarks shoes and H&M among others. Clarks called
on the Cambodian ministry of environment to investigate and also invited other
affected companies to join forces "in working together with the relevant
authorities in Cambodia to eradicate this problem".

H&M acknowledged that traceability is still an issue in Cambodia but said they
did have their own waste management guidelines to ensure that fabric waste isn't
used as a fuel source by factories, or sent to a landfill.


Image caption,
Scraps of Disney-labelled clothing show a sliver of Elsa, from the hit film
Frozen

Cambodia's brick kilns have long been accused of unsafe and unfair working
conditions - and they employ some of the world's poorest people. Now, climate
change is only exacerbating those inequalities, experts say.

"What we need to do is to consider how climate change impacts people through the
lens of labour and inequality, and recognise that labour exploitation is a major
factor in the worst impacts of climate change," Mr Parsons said.


THE HEAT TRAP

However toxic or difficult the job is, workers like Chantrea and Kosal can never
leave. Victims of climate change, they are trapped in a cycle of heat.

The majority of those who work in Cambodia's brick kilns were farmers. Chantrea
used to grow rice. But sparse rainfall in recent years has made it difficult to
manage a single harvest.

"We borrowed a lot of money after our crops failed. But when they kept failing,
we ended up with a lot of debt," she says.

Eventually she had no choice but to migrate to Phnom Penh in the hope of finding
a job to repay the loans. More than two million of Cambodia's 10 million adults
have outstanding micro-loans, according to the Cambodian Microfinance
Association. On average, they each owe $3,320 (£1,955).

This financial insecurity has supplied the vulnerable labour for brick kilns.
Owners offer to pay off the loan but, in return, the worker is bonded to the
kiln.

Often whole families are bonded to the kiln. The BBC saw children helping their
parents in the kiln despite efforts by the Cambodian government to prevent child
labour.

Image source, Thomas Cristofoletti/ BBC
Image caption,
Cambodia's construction boom has come at the cost of its poorest communities

"If we leave, we are afraid of being arrested and imprisoned," Chantrea says.
"So we must struggle here. If they ask us to enter the fire, we will do even
that just so we can earn more money for food and to pay off our debt."

But the wages are too low for the debt to ever be repaid. Chantrea earns 10,000
Cambodian riel (£1.92; $2.45) for stacking around 500 bricks.

With this she has to pay for food, electricity and water. Her home is a tin
shack on the edge of the kiln and she supports a boy she found alone on the
street and adopted. When they are hungry, they forage together for snails.

"After several years, I have never paid the owner back," Chantrea says. The
debt, she adds, has only increased.

Cambodia's kilns have fed the capital's construction boom. It has drawn foreign
investors, including the UK, which has invested one billion pounds, according to
researchers from Royal Holloway University.

But as Phnom Penh reaches toward the sky, with tower after tower of air
conditioned apartments, the city is leaving behind those who've helped to build
it.


RELATED TOPICS

 * Asia
 * Cambodia
 * Climate





TOP STORIES

 * Live. 
   
   US strikes Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria

 * Why did the US wait to retaliate over drone strike?
   
   Published
   1 hour ago

 * Western officials in protest over Israel Gaza policy
   
   Published
   14 hours ago





FEATURES

 * Should we fear an attack of the voice clones?
   
   

 * 'My mother doesn't know if she's married or a widow'
   
   

 * Ros Atkins on… Iran, its proxies and the ‘Axis of Resistance’ VideoRos Atkins
   on… Iran, its proxies and the ‘Axis of Resistance’
   
   
 * 

 * Why did the US wait to retaliate over drone strike?
   
   

 * Confronting the Houthis: How powerful are Yemen’s rebel rulers?
   
   

 * The man behind the puzzle that 99% can't solve
   
   

 * Are black voters losing faith in Biden?
   
   

 * Flood, fire and fishing: Photos of the week
   
   

 * Is there a fresh wave of piracy off Somalia's coast?
   
   




ELSEWHERE ON THE BBC

 * How one rhino became a global celebrity
   
   

 * The literary scandal that rocked US high society
   
   

 * When employers gut middle managers, everyone hurts
   
   




MOST READ

 1.  1
     The cancer doctor trying to stop his brain tumour killing him
 2.  2
     Georgia prosecutors in Trump case admit affair
 3.  3
     Rocky star Carl Weathers dies aged 76
 4.  4
     Why did the US wait to retaliate for the drone strike?
 5.  5
     What we know about US strikes in Iraq and Syria
 6.  6
     Trump's federal trial on election meddling postponed
 7.  7
     US son allegedly shot and beheaded dad before rant
 8.  8
     Inert nuclear missile found in US man's garage
 9.  9
     Western officials in protest over Israel Gaza policy
 10. 10
     Nollywood star sentenced for stepping on naira notes





BBC NEWS SERVICES

 * On your mobile
 * On smart speakers
 * Get news alerts
 * Contact BBC News

 * Home
 * News
 * Sport
 * Earth
 * Reel
 * Worklife
 * Travel
 * Culture
 * Future
 * Music
 * TV
 * Weather
 * Sounds

 * Terms of Use
 * About the BBC
 * Privacy Policy
 * Cookies
 * Accessibility Help
 * Parental Guidance
 * Contact the BBC
 * Get Personalised Newsletters
 * Why you can trust the BBC
 * Advertise with us
 * Do not share or sell my info

© 2024 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read
about our approach to external linking.