Taiwanese metal casing manufacturer Catcher Technology said Friday it is investigating accusations of labor law violations at one of its China factories. Yesterday, labor rights groups China Labor Watch and Green America accused the Taiwan-based company of poor conditions at its 20,000-worker plant in Suqian, Jiangsu Province in eastern China. The allegations included a lack of proper ventilation and safety measures, as well as forced overtime.

Catcher Technology supplies components to Apple, among others.

"We are deeply concerned about the claims made by China Labor Watch, and we take the report very seriously. We are committed to following Apple's supplier code of conduct and will investigate thoroughly," said Catcher Spokesman James Wu.

China Labor Watch and Green America said they found a series of problems that violate both Chinese labor laws and Apple's supplier code of conduct during an August investigation. They reported lack of proper ventilation and emergency exits as well as under-aged employees.

The groups said many of the same violations already existed when they first investigated the factory in April last year.

Apple said it conducted a quarterly fire inspection last week and Catcher made same-day fixes to address a number of issues. An annual audit in May also uncovered "some concrete areas for improvement," according to Apple, which will further investigate the latest report.