SK Hynix sets up committee to compensate sick workers

SK Hynix has set up a compensation committee for its ailing production workers who got sick after working at the company’s chip factories.

The decision came after a overseeing committee, made up of external industrial health experts, suggested the company should offer financial support to workers suffering from occupational diseases, although they concluded last November that it is hard to prove causal relationship between the chip-making process and leukemia.

The compensation committee, a third-party auditor, will review employees’ health statuses based on the standards provided by the overseeing committee that investigated overall corporate health management for the past year.

Applications for compensation on any illnesses considered as industrial accidents begins on Monday through April 30. The official release from the company said that applications are open to current and past workers, including employees from its partnering companies. However exact boundaries of the targets will be clarified after the compensation committee sets to work.

“The employees from partnering companies refer to those who worked at the facility and participated in the chip-making process. However further details of the process and target applicants will be specified following the compensation committee’s decisions,” said a spokesman from SK Hynix.

Applicants will be compensated after their cases are screened by the committee. During the three months of the application period, a certified labor attorney recommended by the committee will aid the overall application process and provide consultation.

The committee, which consists of seven members, is headed by Jang Jae-yeon, a medical school professor at Ajou University, and includes two labor union members and a representative of the company’s management.

“We will actively consider the committee’s suggestions to create a safer workplace and serve corporate social responsibility,” the company said in a statement.

BY PARK TAE-HEE, KIM JEE-HEE [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]