Three contract workers died on Monday evening at a Tata Electronics factory near Hosur after inhaling toxic gas inside a wastewater treatment tank. Officials said the men lacked proper safety gear during maintenance. Tata and Apple started separate investigations into the tragedy, while police await post-mortem results to confirm details.
Three contract workers died while carrying out maintenance inside a wastewater treatment tank at Tata Electronics' factory near Hosur, with officials suspecting that they inhaled toxic gas.
Three contract workers died on Monday evening while servicing a wastewater treatment tank at a Tata Electronics factory near Hosur in Tamil Nadu. Officials suspect that the men inhaled toxic gas while working inside the tank.
The incident took place at the company's facility in Vanniyapuram near Uddanapalli, which manufactures components, including metal casings, for Apple's iPhones. According to the Krishnagiri district collector's office, four workers were part of the maintenance team. The first worker, B Akmal, collapsed after attempting to look inside the filtration tank.
When M Sarathikumar went to check on him, he also collapsed. A third worker, P Kaveri, then entered the tank and fell unconscious. The fourth member of the team raised an alarm and called for help.
All three workers were pulled out and taken to a private hospital in Hosur, where doctors declared them dead.
Safety measures under investigation
A senior official from the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health told The Indian Express that the workers did not have proper safety arrangements for the maintenance work. The official said Nalco Water, a unit of US-based Ecolab, operated the wastewater treatment plant. It had hired another company through a subcontract, which had employed the workers.
The bodies were later shifted to the Government Medical College Hospital in Krishnagiri for post-mortem examinations.
"We are conducting a detailed inquiry today," the official said. Police said the exact cause of death would be established after the post-mortem examinations. The district administration has also ordered an inquiry, while Tata and Apple have launched separate investigations into the incident.
The factory had already been closed for Deepavali when the accident took place.
Factory plays a key role in Apple's India operations
The Hosur facility manufactures back panels and precision-machined metal casings used in iPhones. These casings form the outer frame of premium smartphones and require specialised machinery and finishing processes.
A separate Tata facility within the same compound is involved in assembling finished iPhones.
The factory is an important part of Apple's efforts to expand manufacturing beyond China. According to Reuters, India now produces around a quarter of the world's iPhones.
Earlier incidents raised concerns at the Hosur plant
The facility has faced operational issues in the past. In September 2024, a fire in a chemical storage area halted component production at the Hosur site. At the time, the factory was the only Indian supplier of iPhone back panels to both Foxconn and Tata's own assembly operations.
The plant also faced questions this year after the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) intervened over allegations that wastewater from the facility had contaminated nearby agricultural wells.
Tata said it had addressed the regulator's concerns and that the pollution control board had dropped further action.
The latest incident has now brought the factory's safety arrangements under scrutiny as authorities investigate the deaths of the three workers.