Dear Apple. Check Your Factories

I admit that I own an iPhone and I love, but I also admit that they working condition issue that came up in recent news is giving Apple a bad rap but also must be addressed. While Apple did inspections on the factories which did the final 'construction,' as you might call it, of their products they failed to look at the factories that produced the components for these technology wonders. There were shocking reports of things which, according to

A spate of suicides at Foxconn Technology Group factories in 2010 and the illnesses of workers at Wintek Corp., in 2011, which were thought to be caused by exposure to toxic chemicals, both created bad publicity for Apple.

Recently Apple has switched from auditing their own factories to bringing in a third party. This is a wise move for Apple due to the fact when an individual company audits their own factory there is no one to keep them in line or prevent them from lying. It is stated in the CBC article that

The audits will include interviews with employees about working and living conditions, including health and safety, working hours and wages, along with inspections of manufacturing and living areas and examination of employment-related documents. 

Let this be a sign to other companies, no matter what they produce in their factories, that in order to protect their business it is important to run audits on their factories to ensure worker safety/

China Apple Factories FLA Audits
Petition: Apple CEO Tim Cook-Protect Workers Making iPhones in China
Behind the News: 02/11/2012
FoxConn Raise Wages Apple Contractor?
Do Apple Users Care Enough to Protest Chinese Working Conditions
FoxConn Wiki Page