On May 7, 2020, toxic Styrene gas leaked from the LG Polymers Chemical plant, a unit of South Korean LG Chem, near Visakhapatnam in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The gas leak has killed 12 persons and sickened more than 1,000 people and has been covered widely in the media in India and globally as a tragedy reminiscent of the Bhopal gas tragedy 36 years ago. Electronics Watch and Cividep, our monitoring partner in India, support the calls of the local community and others for full remediation for the victims, and for a thorough investigation by the relevant authorities to discover and publish the causes of this tragedy.

Our recent publication "When Compliance is Not Enough - Why victims of forced labour should be partners in the remediation design" shows just why it is essential that workers are involved in the process of remediation, and raises a fundamental question about the limits of responsible business conduct: When companies address violations in their supply chains in accordance with their codes of conduct, but workers still suffer serious harm, does human rights due diligence require the companies to do more? Listen also to the recorded statement from a former worker at Possehl.

The much awaited UK Government's Modern Slavery Statement published recently highlights the work they are doing with Electronics Watch to tackle modern slavery in their ICT hardware and electronics supply chains.