Apple seemed "totally complacent and unresponsive," said Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, the main author of the report.

The groups ranked companies from Apple to Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) on how they dealt with pollution concerns and occupational health hazards at factories.

The rankings strike expert observers as part of a growing trend toward greater awareness among workers in growing Third World economies.

"We are absolutely going to see more of this," Basel Action Network spokesperson Jim Puckett told MacNewsWorld. "Reports of concerns like these are happening more and more often as China's workers feel comfortable speaking out and making it clear that all is not well." Basel Action Network earlier produced a documentary about the problem of poisons and environmental waste in Asia.

In the case of Apple, however, the bottom-barrel rank may not be fair, said Enderle Group chief analyst Rob Enderle. "Years ago, Apple contracted out most of its major overseas manufacturing," Enderle told MacNewsWorld. "Though Apple should be going after their contractors too, it may be more fair if these groups also went after them."

Bottom of the Barrel

The report comes after a year-long effort to influence thinking and practices at companies such as HP (NYSE: HPQ), Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), and several Asian-based firms including Samsung, Toshiba and Hitachi (NYSE: HIT).

Some firms took positive steps to remediate environmental damage and improve worker safety.

Others, however -- including Nokia (NYSE: NOK), LG, SingTel, Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERICY) -- weren't responsive. Apple, at the bottom of the barrel, took no action, the Chinese groups claim, dodging their inquiries and refusing to respond. Among cases the groups cite a poisoning at touchscreen manufacturer Lianjian Technology, where 49 employees were poisoned with the volatile organic solvent
n-hexane in 2009.

Though Chinese state media made much of the incident, the workers claim Apple has ignored them.

"Cheap overseas labor comes with a lack of capacity and infrastructure to deal with environmental and worker safety problems," BAN's Puckett told MacNewsWorld. "We term this issues 'cost externalities,'" or costs companies such as Apple are able to externalize overseas. "All of the things we take for granted, like liability for on-the-job hazards and environmental clean-up regulations, come with costs American companies have to internalize. But overseas labor presents the opportunity for companies to externalize the costs."

Apple Denies

Apple has denied the charges, with company spokesperson Steve Dowling referring to internal reports the company published.

Those reports, however, paint a far-from-flattering picture. Over 2009-10, only 61 percent of 102 facilities complied with Apple's injury prevention rules. Only 83 per cent complied with prevention of chemical exposure prevention.

The data -- which give Apple a low D and a low B, respectively -- shouldn't be surprising in the general scheme of things.

"Apple certainly isn't the only company guilty of these sorts of violations," said BAN's Puckett. "Every company that looks for cheap labor overseas is equally guilty of taking advantage of the lack of significant infrastructure to deal with these problems."

Apple did not respond to MacNewsWorld questions by press time.