Samsung told to improve worker safety

Labor Ministry calls on firm to give better protection to workers from hazards


Samsung Electronics Co. has been asked by local authorities to take costly measures to better protect its workers, after a series of leukemia-related deaths in its semiconductor manufacturing lines.

The Labor Ministry said Wednesday that it has requested the world’s top maker of computer memory chips to take steps, including hazard assessment of all chemicals used in its entire semiconductor manufacturing process and hiring industrial medicine doctors.

The ministry estimated that the measures would cost Samsung around 100 billion won ($93 million) until 2020.

The request came after Labor Minister Lee Chae-pil visited on Aug. 10 one of Samsung’s chip processing plants in Giheung, Gyeonggi Province. Five workers died of leukemia there.

“It was a special request from the minister that Samsung should do more to protect its workers, although studies found no meaningful evidence of a link between leukemia and working in chip-making lines,” a ministry official said.

In June, a Seoul court ruled in favor of the bereaved family of two former Samsung employees who died of leukemia that their deaths should be seen as being work-related. It ordered the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service to pay compensation for them.

Samsung refuted the ruling, citing a self-commissioned study conducted by U.S.-based firm Environ which claims to have found no link between leukemia and Samsung plants.

The chipmaker, after announcing the results of the year-long study in July, pledged to take stricter measures to manage hazardous materials used in its factories and support leukemia-stricken workers out of moral responsibility.

The same day, the state-run worker welfare agency filed an appeal, refusing to acknowledge the death of the two as workplace disasters.

The labor ministry urged the firm to honor its promise, particularly about the support of suffering workers, and come up with detailed action plans within a month. It also called for better communication with workers about potential hazards at workplaces.

To check on the firm’s implementation, the ministry plans to set up a monitoring team with occupational safety specialists.

The leukemia cases have raised doubts over health and safety management at the country’s largest company.

Civic groups claim that there are at least 60 Samsung employees who have contracted leukemia or other health complications while working for the company. Samsung dispute the claims, citing studies. The firm received two inspections in 2007 and 2008 by the state-run Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, which failed to detect materials that may cause leukemia.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)