More than 80 people in two garment factories – one in Phnom Penh, the other in Kandal province – fainted on the job yesterday.

Forty-six people fainted at Quint Major Industrial Co Ltd, just one day after an incident on Monday that saw about 50 workers faint at the same factory, said Cheav Bunrith, a spokesman for the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).

“At about 8:20am on Tuesday, 46 workers fainted because they still felt scared [from the previous day], and they are in poor health,” he said.

“We inspected the factory, and found that the workers did not faint because of chemicals or pesticides in the workplace.”

Thirty-six other workers fainted at C N Prosperous Garment (Cambodia) Co Ltd in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district yesterday morning, Bunrith said.

NSSF officials who investigated the fainting at C N Prosperous found that employees there fainted out of shock after a single worker fainted, starting a domino effect.

“The workers fainted continuously out of shock after one worker fell down,” Bunrith said.

“They were sent to a private clinic near the factory.”