SPL CEO can't answer tough questions about factory death

Kang Dong-seok, CEO of SPL, answers questions about the recent death of a 23-year-old worker at a factory during a parliamentary hearing on Monday. [NEWS1]

SPL CEO Kang Dong-seok apologized for the death of a worker in a bread factory during a parliamentary hearing on Monday, but refused to answer some key questions such as who ordered other workers to keep working after the accident.

A 23-year-old employee working at SPL’s bread factory died Oct. 15 after getting caught in an industrial mixer. The company sparked outrage for making employees continue working the next day, putting a screen around the machine that killed the worker.

Kang remained silent when asked about who ordered SPL workers to continue working.

Regarding why it took ten minutes to call 119 at the time of the accident, Kang said “people were very startled when the accident happened and tried to make other attempts to save the worker.”

A co-worker witnessed the accident at 6:15 a.m. on Oct. 15 and called the factory manager two minutes later, rather than calling 119. The manager called 119 at 6:25 a.m.

Kang said he didn’t know whether protocol dictated that workers call a manager when accidents happen.

Another accident happened at a Shany factory on Oct. 23, with a worker getting his finger amputated in a conveyor belt while inspecting products. Shany is 69.86 percent owned by Chairman Hur Young-in and his family. They also own all of Paris Croissaint, parent company of SPL.

The police are currently investigating the Shany accident to see if the factory followed safety guidelines.

“Despite the chairman saying he will take responsibility for the [SPL] accident, we only heard a CEO of an affiliated company at the parliamentary hearing today,” said Rep. Lee Eun-ju, a Justice Party lawmaker. “President Yoon Suk-yeol himself said we need to solve underlying structural problems, and it is a shame that we couldn't bring Chairman Hur Young-in.”

“I think it is our committee’s responsibility to summon Chairman Hur to another hearing and discuss measures to prevent similar accidents from reoccurring.”

A team from the Ministry of Employment and Labor and National Forensic Service started an investigation of SPL on Monday. The team is looking into whether the company violated the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. It examined the industrial mixer and safety procedures at the factory.

The team said the exact cause of the accident will be announced after further investigation.

The Serious Accidents Punishment Act covers businesses with 50 or more employees. Under the law, owners of companies, managers and the corporation itself can be charged if they failed to properly implement safety practices and procedures and deaths resulted from their negligence. Those found to have violated the act can be jailed for more than a year or fined up to 1 billion won ($703,000).

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