Hip
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Nearly 300 Cambodian workers fell sick at a garment factory.
Toxic chemical exposure you'd think is a reasonable assumption, and is certainly something that warrants further investigation. A precautionary principle would urge one to do that.
Cue Simon Wessely and pals: What's Causing 'Mass Faintings' at Cambodian Factories?
In other words, in his usual cavalier and morally bankrupt way, Simon Wessely says "forget about health and safety, take it from me that these symptoms are all in the mind".
This excerpt particularly ranks:
Oh right!
It couldn't be the asbestos dust from the WTC collapse, permanently lodged in sufferers' lungs, that might be responsible for their long term complaints.Asbestosis and siliocosis being known for their long term lung symptoms.
No, it's not real, it mass hysteria, according to Wessely and pals.
Some big Western brands have launched investigations into what non-governmental organizations say are more than 1,000 faintings this year by garment workers toiling for long hours.
An independent inquiry by the Washington-based Fair Labor Association ... concluded there was a "strong possibility" that an estimated 104 faintings over a two-day period were caused by exposure to chemicals, poor ventilation and exhaustion from excessive hours.
Toxic chemical exposure you'd think is a reasonable assumption, and is certainly something that warrants further investigation. A precautionary principle would urge one to do that.
Cue Simon Wessely and pals: What's Causing 'Mass Faintings' at Cambodian Factories?
Tuomo Poutiainen, chief technical adviser for Better Factories Cambodia (a UN International Labour Organization program seeking to improve factory working conditions) says:
"Some kind of mass-hysteria element might be involved", but adds that the wants first to eliminate other factors. Its investigative team includes experts in health and safety, industrial hygiene and nutrition - but not in behavioral psychology.
"This is unwise", says Wessely, who has studied cases of mass hysteria dating back to the Middle Ages.
In other words, in his usual cavalier and morally bankrupt way, Simon Wessely says "forget about health and safety, take it from me that these symptoms are all in the mind".
This excerpt particularly ranks:
Sufferers of World Trade Center syndrome, meanwhile, blamed proximity to Ground Zero for coughs and other respiratory problems long after airborne contaminants posed any health threat.
These are examples of mass hysteria.
Oh right!
It couldn't be the asbestos dust from the WTC collapse, permanently lodged in sufferers' lungs, that might be responsible for their long term complaints.Asbestosis and siliocosis being known for their long term lung symptoms.
No, it's not real, it mass hysteria, according to Wessely and pals.