On 16th March 2024, a blast occurred in the dust collectors in the buffing department of LifeLong India., a supplier to Hero Motors, General Motors, Inteva, Flex-N-Gate, Magna, Lucas, Exide, India Nippon, Brembo, BorgWarner, Hutchinson, and Nissin, as stated on Lifelong's website.

The explosion resulted in the deaths of 19 workers and injuries to 60 workers.

NGO Safe in India investigated the report and published several findings on causal or contributing factors to the explosion at Lifelong India's factory and its devastating effects on workers. Safe in India found the explosion at the was allegedly caused by poor equipment maintenance, specifically the failure to maintain and clean the dust collector. The factory lacked worker training on safety measures and problem identification, and had hazardous working conditions, including 12-hour shifts without breaks, inadequate safety gear, and blocked emergency exits.

"Media reports indicate that workers complained of 12-hour shifts with one lunch break and no other breaks, no weekly offs, extreme production pressure as harsh targets needed to be met, got bare minimum as safety gear viz. gloves and masks, which melted into their skin when the fire spread."

Additionally, there was insufficient insulation against dust, unmarked exits, and no power backup. Lifelong also reportedly failed to provide ESIC registration and benefits.

Media reports indicate that while two families of deceased workers were promised INR 30,60,000 (USD36.5k) each plus a monthly pension, they have received INR 22,50,000 (USD26.8k) so far, and a few of injured workers have received only INR 150,000 (USD1.8k).

In August 2024, the Resource Centre reached out to Lifelong India and its buyers —Hero Motors, General Motors, Inteva, Flex-N-Gate, Magna, Lucas, Exide, India Nippon, Brembo, BorgWarner, Hutchinson and Nissin—with the following inquiries:

1. Confirmation that Lifelong India is part of their supply chain, including details on the time frame of procurement from this facility.
2. An outline of the investigation and due diligence conducted regarding the incident.
3. Confirmation of the health and safety measures in place both before and after the incident, along with details of corrective actions taken.
4. Confirmation that appropriate remedies and compensation are being provided to the affected workers, ensuring:
   • Full reparation that addresses long-term family needs, is non-discriminatory, and proportional.
   • Disbursement of any remaining promised compensation.
   • Equal compensation for all families of deceased workers, matching the two families who have received partial payments.
   • Access to Employee State Insurance (ESI) for affected workers.

We received a response from Hero Motors, General Motors, Flex-N-Gate, Brembo, BorgWarner and Magna. We did not receive any response from Lifelong India, Inteva, Lucas, Exide, India Nippon, Hutchinson, and Nissin.

A few companies like Flex-N-Gate, BorgWarner and Magna have clarified that they are not Lifelong India's customer and Lifelong India has no permission to represent them as its customer.

General Motors stated that it immediately initiated its due diligence process following the incident and intends to work with the supplier until a resolution is achieved, while also requiring independent verification and transparency.

Brembo confirmed Lifelong India has been in its supply chain since 2018 but was not permitted to participate in the investigation. It requested an external health and safety audit for 2024 and will assess compensation progress in its next review. After the Indian government allowed Lifelong to resume operations, Brembo conducted further audits and will continue monitoring safety standards.

In contrast, Hero MotoCorp only provided a general reference to its policy without addressing specific actions taken in response to the incident. Unfortunately, neither Lifelong India nor other brands involved have provided responses regarding their remediation efforts.