After grisly factory death, SPC chairman vows better safety

SPC Chairman Hur Young-in apologies for the death of a 23-year-old worker in an accident at an SPL factory at a press conference on Friday. [YONHAP]

SPC Group Chairman Hur Young-in apologized once more for the accidental death of a worker at an affiliate's bread factory, promising 100 billion won ($69 million) in investment in better safety measures.

"We will do our best to help the bereaved family to recover from the accident," said Hur at a press conference at SPC Group's headquarters in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Friday.

"We acknowledge that some workers were working at other machines near the site of the accident after the death, which was a very wrong thing to do and should not have happened."

A 23-year-old employee working at a bread factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, owned by SPL, died Oct. 15 after getting caught in an industrial mixer. SPL is owned by Paris Croissaint, a company wholly owned by Chairman Hur and his family.

"We will thoroughly look into the safety management system of all our affiliates and focus on creating a safe business environment," added Hur.

The chairman released an apology via statement on Monday, but apologized once again as the company's seemingly callous response continued to make headlines.

SPL was pilloried for putting a screen around the industrial mixer that killed the worker and making other employees continue to work nearby. The SPL branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the more radical of Korea's two labor groups, went on Twitter to upload a photo of an industrial mixer draped with a white screen and employees working in the background on Oct. 16, writing that "the factory that the accident happened was busy today making sandwiches."

SPL CEO Kang Dong-seok wasn't present at the press conference due to ministry and police investigations.

Hwang Jae-bok, CEO of Paris Croissant, announced a set of new safety measures at the press conference.

SPL and all SPC Group affiliates will get a safety inspection done by the Korea Safety Technology Association and the Korea Industrial Safety Association.

Based on the results of that investigation, the affiliates will make a combined investment of 70 billion won to install additional safety mechanisms and another 20 billion won to improve working conditions for employees.

SPL will separately invest an additional 10 billion won to improve safety conditions at its factories.

The labor ministry is currently looking into whether SPL violated the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.

Under the act, owners of companies, managers and the corporation itself can be charged if they failed to properly implement safety practices and procedures and a death resulted from their negligence. The act covers businesses with 50 or more employees. People who violate the act can be jailed for a year or more or fined up to 1 billion won.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]