Apple sent Timothy D. Cook, its chief operating officer, to China last year to review the operations of a principal manufacturing partner after nearly a dozen suicides by factory employees raised concerns about working conditions.
In a report on suppliers that it publishes annually, Apple said that Mr. Cook and a team of independent suicide prevention experts conducted a review of Foxconns factory in Shenzhen in June and made a series of recommendations for changes in August. Mr. Cook and the team also reviewed changes that Foxconn had put in place, which included hiring a large number of psychological counselors, establishing a 24-hour care center and even attaching large nets to the factory buildings to prevent impulsive suicides, Apple said in the report, which was released on Monday. The investigation found that Foxconns response had definitely saved lives.
The suicides at Foxconn, which also supplies companies like Hewlett Packard and Dell, sparked concerns about working conditions in Chinas sprawling electronics factories. Last June, Steven P. Jobs, Apples chief executive, defended Foxconn during an appearance at a technology conference in California, saying it was not a sweatshop and that Apple was over there trying to understand what is happening.
During his visit, Mr. Cook, who is overseeing Apples day-to-day operations while Mr. Jobs is on medical leave, met with Foxconns chief executive, Terry Gou, and other executives, Apple said. His team also surveyed more than 1,000 factory workers about their quality of life and working conditions, interviewed workers and managers and evaluated working and living conditions.
Apple said it recommended areas for improvement, including better training of hotline staff and care center counselors and better monitoring to ensure effectiveness.
The company said it would continue to work with Foxconn on implementing the programs and would take some lessons from its collaboration with Foxconn to other suppliers and facilities.
In the report, Apple said it also discovered underage workers at various suppliers and terminated contracts with three facilities that didnt change their policies promptly. It also said that it was working to ensure that minerals used in electronics manufacturing, like tantalum, tungsten and gold, do not come from war-torn regions.