The workers assembling your next iPhone now have to promise not to kill themselves (seriously)

The Chinese workers who assembled this product signed a pledge agreement not to attempt suicide or violent rampage.

It's not quite the sort of assurance that a company like Apple would ever want to print on their packaging, is it? It certainly doesn't jive well with the happy indie music for which Apple TV ads have become so well known, but it's exactly what's happening right now in Shenzhen, China, where workers at the enormous FoxConn facility seem to be dropping like flies -- literally. This week, the management there decided that suicide has become such a threat that they've begun installing nets around the taller structures to keep would-be jumpers from fatally successful attempts on their own lives.

Now, as a step even further down the rabbit hole, The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that workers at FoxConn are now being asked to sign a pledge promising "never to hurt themselves or others in an extreme manner." A subsection of the same pledge requires employees to agree that the company could commit them to a mental institution if they exhibit "abnormal mental or physical state" -- which is, of course, "for the protection of themselves and others."

They can dress it up as clinical as they want, but some employees aren't buying it. One told a local paper that he was flatly refusing to sign the pledge, since it was giving the company permission to have him committed should he so much as argue with his supervisor.

With a current total of nine suicides this year (out of 11 attempts), FoxConn management isn't taking any chances. Along with placing nets around buildings, they've also instituted roof patrols, and begun setting up stress-relief activities for factory employees, as well as bringing in counseling teams.

Apple's not the only big-name company getting its electronics assembled at FoxConn, either. Apple, Dell and HP are all actively probing the matter. Hopefully the three of them, along with the heaping piles of horrible press, will put enough pressure on the Hon Hai Group, which owns FoxConn, to fix the situation quickly, permanently, and humanely.

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Update: While these suicide numbers still technically fall below the national average for greater China (in the 12 per 100,000 range), there are fresh reports that the number of attempts has now risen to 16. It seems like the more fuss made over suicides at the plant, the more suicide attempts are made.

It's also rumored that FoxConn is paying out a substantial amount to families of the deceased -- 400,000 RMB upon death and 30,000 yearly afterwards as a post-mortem pension. If those rumors are true, then it begins to look more like these young workers, many from impoverished families, could be taking the plunge to make things financially better for those they leave behind. Either way, FoxConn making such a spectacle of things by hanging nets and forcing anti-suicide pacts on its employees can't be helping matters.

Tags: Apple, China, Dell, FoxConn, HP, iPhone, iPod, suicide