SPC CEO Do Se-ho said on the 15th that he believes the death at the SPC Samlip Shihwa plant in May was a man-made disaster.
Do appeared as a witness at the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee audit in the afternoon. In response to People Power Party lawmaker Kim So-hee's characterization of the Shihwa plant death as a man-made disaster, Do said, "After the Shihwa plant incident, President Lee Jae-myung also visited, and we agree that night work was the problem."
Earlier, on May 19, at the SPC Samlip Shihwa plant in Siheung, Gyeonggi, a female worker in her 50s died after being caught in a conveyor belt while spraying machine lubricant. President Lee Jae-myung visited the site in Jul., and SPC Group introduced a "new work system," including limiting night work hours for production workers.
There was also criticism that the safety managers assigned to the plant hold assistant manager or staff-level ranks, lack sufficient experience, and are too few in number. Do said, "With fatal and other industrial accidents becoming a major issue, securing safety managers has become extremely difficult," but added, "We will keep working to hire experienced people and, in the case of SPC Samlip, increase the number of safety managers to around 30 by year-end."
During the process, Kim suggested the need to replace work uniforms to prevent entanglement accidents. "Overseas, there are work clothes that tear easily when force is applied in the event of an entanglement accident. Even if the unit price is a bit higher, we should introduce such clothing," the lawmaker said. Do responded, "If there are departments that need such uniforms, we will replace the fabric and provide them."
Park Jeong, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, also urged an improvement in awareness among the leadership, including SPC Group Chairman Heo Young-in, as much as improvements to the work system. Do said, "Chairman Heo was also deeply grieved by the sacrifices of workers," adding, "With an urgent sense that our workers must never be sacrificed again, we will push improvements."
Kang Deuk-gu, a lawmaker from the same party, noted that although SPC Group says it invested a 100 billion won budget to make the work environment safer, changes were only from the perspective of production efficiency, with nothing invested for "safety." Do said, "SPC Group's management is striving to put safety first and is making improvements with a sense of urgency," adding, "We will focus our capabilities on areas that need improvement and work to establish a safety culture."