UK investigates after labour rights exposé at medical glove maker
Britain is launching an investigation into medical gloves used by its health service after a Thomson Reuters Foundation exposé found stocks from Malaysia could be tainted by the mistreatment of migrant workers at the world’s biggest glovemaker. The health ministry said it would investigate standards at Top Glove, which makes rubber gloves sold to Britain's National Health Service (NHS), after the exposé found some migrants were working illegal overtime to pay off debts. Top Glove last week vowed to do more to tackle excessive overtime after the Thomson Reuters Foundation found some workers clocked more than the amount permitted by law, and to cut ties with agents charging migrant workers huge fees to get them jobs. The Thomson Reuters Foundation has discovered that at least one Top Glove product is supplied to the NHS via a British firm, raising doubts about Britain’s capacity to ensure its medical supply chain is free of labour abuses and unethical practices. Labour experts, doctor...
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