Mass fainting in Cambodian garment factories

A mysterious phenomenon has plagued factories in Cambodia for years. In 2017, there were more than 1600 cases of factory workers in Cambodia fainting in various incidents. In 2018, a single incident resulted in more than 200 workers at a shoe factory simultaneously fainting at the workplace. So far, investigations from various organizations have documented various potential causes of the mass faintings. As much as the investigations give insight into possible contributing factors, none have looked at the problem as a whole. Rather, each group sees the issue through their own lens based on their area of interest or scope of work. Looking for “the” single cause of mass fainting ignores the insight that there may be many component causes. By considering the problem more holistically, it may be possible to identify several potential leverage points for intervention.