Lee Criticizes 'Structural Accident', SPC to Abolish Overtime Over 8 Hours.. 'Complete Overhaul of Production Structure'

[Financial News] SPC Group, which has experienced a series of worker fatalities, will embark on a comprehensive overhaul of its production structure, including limiting night shifts for production workers to within 8 hours. This is interpreted as an immediate acceptance of President Lee Jae-myung's criticism during the site meeting at the Siheung Plant on the 25th. 
SPC Group announced on the 27th at the 'SPC Committee', a meeting of CEOs, that it would "minimize night production and abolish overtime exceeding 8 hours.” 
This measure was announced immediately after the site meeting for major accident prevention held at the SPC Samlip Siheung Plant on the 25th. President Lee, who visited the site that day, strongly criticized, "The problem is not the machines, but the fundamental cause of accidents is the 12-hour long work shifts," and emphasized, "The labor structure itself needs to change." He further pointed out, "The fact that accidents repeatedly occur around 2-3 AM is clearly due to drowsiness and fatigue," and highlighted, "This is evidence of a structured system of low-wage, long-hour labor."
SPC plans to use the meeting as an opportunity to promote a comprehensive improvement of the production environment. They plan to reduce factory operating hours by eliminating night production as much as possible, except for essential items due to product characteristics. They also plan to gradually reduce daytime working hours to prevent fatigue accumulation, decreased concentration, and accident risks due to long working hours in advance.
Additionally, to ensure the stable establishment of this work system reform, they will continuously consult with the labor union and also promote training and manual revisions to minimize confusion during the transition process. This structural reform is interpreted as a measure that includes reflection on repeated industrial accidents and a determination to prevent recurrence, rather than just a simple institutional change.
Previously, at the SPC Siheung Plant, a 50-year-old female worker died in an accident where her upper body was caught in a conveyor belt in May. In August 2023, a 50-year-old worker at the Seongnam Shani Plant, and in October 2022, a 20-year-old female worker at the Pyeongtaek SPL Plant, were each caught in a dough mixer and died. All were 'entrapment accidents' that occurred while the machines did not stop during work.
An SPC Group official said, "We have taken seriously the criticisms and concerns about long night shifts at production sites and decided to pursue a reform of the overall production system, including work patterns," and added, "We will continue to actively improve and invest to create a workplace where worker safety is the top priority."



clean@fnnews.com Lee Jeong-hwa Reporter