President Lee Jae-myung said during a live broadcast of the Cabinet meeting on the 29th of last month about the SPC industrial accident, "(SPC) previously said it would take measures to prevent similar accidents from occurring with an investment of 100 billion won, but I asked him to verify whether that was actually done." The 100 billion won mentioned by President Lee is a follow-up measure regarding the worker fatality incident that occurred at the SPL bakery factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, in 2022. This is part of the safety management budget announced by SPC Group Chairman Heo Young-in.
SPC Group executed approximately 92% of its total budget related to the issue by the end of April this year; however, a worker fatality incident recurred the following month at the SPC Samlip factory in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province. Experts noted, "All aging equipment and facilities must be demolished."
According to ChosunBiz reporting on the 1st, SPC Group invested a total of 91.68 billion won in safety management from 2022 through the end of April this year. Detailed breakdowns include: ▲ expansion of safety equipment and enhancement of equipment safety 40.83 billion won ▲ automation of high-risk and hazardous tasks 25.26 billion won ▲ improvement of work environment 20.44 billion won ▲ and others 5.15 billion won. As of the end of April, 91.68% of the total budget had been executed. SPC Group aims to complete a total investment of 100 billion won in safety management by September.
Despite spending over 90 billion won on safety management by April, another fatal accident occurred in May at the SPC Samlip factory, which is part of SPC Group. At the time, a worker in his 50s was reported to have suffered an accident where his upper body was caught in machinery while spraying lubricant on a conveyor belt where hot bread was being cooled.
Since the accident in which a worker in his 20s was caught in a sauce mixer (a device used for mixing or stirring solid, liquid, and gas) at the SPL bakery factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, in October 2022, SPC-affiliated factories have experienced three fatal accidents and five injury incidents over the past three years. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of industrial accidents occurring at SPC subsidiaries from 2020 to the first half of last year reached 572.
Following the safety incidents in May, SPC Group noted in the "SPC Safety Management Innovation Plan Report to the National Assembly" submitted to the Environment and Labor Committee that by the end of May, a total of 96.9 billion won had been invested in the expansion of safety equipment and automation of high-risk tasks.
The budget invested by SPC was primarily used for replacing safety devices such as covers, guardrails, and sensors, as well as for improving work environments through the installation of closed-circuit televisions and the expansion of pathways. It was particularly noted that measures were taken to prevent safety accidents during work by repairing facilities and replacing equipment to address musculoskeletal disorders and entrapments.
Nonetheless, safety accidents have frequently occurred in SPC Group's affiliated factories. Industry observers believe that since SPC produces hundreds of types of bread and desserts, some processes necessitate workers directly entering equipment for automation, thereby exposing them to risk. Concerns were also raised that to supply products within distribution and delivery deadlines, some safety manuals may not have been adhered to, and that the operation equipment in factories is over 30 years old.
Professor Kim Sung-hee from Korea University stated, "Although 100 billion won was invested in the name of safety management, it seems that much of it was only invested in the efficiency of existing production facilities and equipment, without any new investments for industrial safety and health, such as changing work methods. If they had operated according to safety manuals such as a two-person team system, tragedies would not have been repeated."
Professor Kim Chan-oh, an honorary professor of safety engineering at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, stated, "Simply repairing aging equipment and facilities that are over 30 years old cannot fundamentally eliminate the risk of accidents. Although they claim to have invested 100 billion won, wasn't it all just partial replacements and repairs?" He further remarked, "Unless they completely demolish aging equipment and facilities and rebuild them according to safety designs, the same accidents will occur again."
An SPC Group official stated, "We are investing in safety equipment and automation for hazardous tasks to prevent the recurrence of the same accidents; however, due to having many affiliates and factories, accidents occurred where safety equipment could not be installed in time." They continued, "All equipment involved in this incident will be demolished and replaced with new safety installations." There are a total of 27 factories under the SPC Group, of which 17 are manufacturing plants producing bread and snacks.
SPC Group plans to invest an additional 62.4 billion won by 2027 to establish facilities for the automation of hazardous work processes. Of this, 54.3 billion won will be used for replacing and installing safety and automation facilities.
President Lee and the government are in a position to monitor the effectiveness of the additional 62.4 billion won being injected. This scrutiny arises from the fact that even with nearly 100 billion won already invested, fatalities have continued to recur.
Meanwhile, SPC Group has stated that they will limit night shifts for production workers to within 8 hours to eliminate long night shifts, embarking on a comprehensive reform of the overall production system. This is a response to President Lee's criticism regarding the "12-hour shift rotation" between day and night, raised during a labor-management meeting on preventing industrial accidents held at the Siheung factory on the 25th.
An SPC Group official stated, "To create a safe working environment, we have also launched the 'Change and Innovation Promotion Team' and have communicated recommendations for establishing a 'smart factory' to the SPC Committee (the representative consultative body of SPC Group affiliates)." They assured, "We will strive to ensure that safety accidents no longer occur."