The report titled Workers Waiting to Die in Morowali: The Risks of Occupational Diseases in One of the World’s Largest Nickel Industrial Zone released in June 2025 draws on worker interviews to allege multiple safety shortfalls in IMIP and the factories in the park. According to the report, workers across several companies described prolonged exposure to dust, excessive noise, high temperatures, harmful chemicals, and long working hours, while management allegedly required operations to continue despite malfunctioning equipment and delayed repairs. The report further claims that safety systems, personal protective equipment distribution, and medical monitoring were often inadequate or merely procedural, failing to effectively prevent accidents or detect occupational diseases. Interviewed workers also described pressure to perform hazardous tasks despite safety concerns, unclear lines of responsibility for workplace safety due to overlapping management structures, and a workplace culture in which employees feared punishment for refusing dangerous work. Across multiple facilities, the report alleges that weak safety oversight, excessive fatigue, and insufficient maintenance created hazardous working conditions that contributed to accidents and health risks for workers.

The Business and Human Rights Centre had reached out to the parent companies of the factories mentioned, including Tsingshan Group, Nickel Industries, Guangdong Guangxin Group, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt for comments. They did not respond.