SPC widely publicized its safety devices only to be shamed: No such devices in the Shany factory

On August 16, when the members of the parliamentary Environment and Labor Committee visited the Shany confectionery factory in Jungwon-gu, Seongnam-si in Gyeonggi, where a worker died after being caught in the machinery, Shany employees where condolence ribbons as they stand outside and guard the factory. Kwon Do-hyun

Recently in the SPC group’s Shany factory, a worker in her fifties died after she got caught in the machinery while working at a mixer without an interlock (automatic safety device). SPC publicized the installation of interlocks in its production facilities after a safety inspection of its factories just eight months earlier, but the machine involved in the latest accident was not equipped with the safety device. Shany was aware that the machinery and process in which the latest accident occurred posed the risk of workers getting caught in the bowl lift, but failed to install the interlock. SPC explained that the machine in question was introduced after the safety inspection.

According to the “Measures to Prevent Caught-in-Machinery Accidents Since 2022,” which the office of Justice Party legislator Lee Eun-ju of the parliamentary Environment and Labor Committee received from the Ministry of Employment and Labor on August 23, Shany submitted a report including plans to prevent similar caught-in-machinery accidents and stated that it would “install an interlock on the mixer (bowl lift)” and “remove similar facilities and install interlocks.” In other words, the bow lift was not equipped with an interlock before the accident. An interlock is a device that automatically stops the machinery when it detects anything caught in it.

Last October, SPC conducted a safety inspection of all its facilities after critical public opinion spread nationwide, following the death of a twenty-something worker, who was caught in a sauce mixing machine at an SPL bakery plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi. It was a measure proposed by Heo Young-in, the chairman of SPC, who also promised to invest 100 billion won in safety. The safety inspection at the time included the Shany Seongnam factory, where the latest accident took place.

Last December, when the company completed the safety inspection, SPC distributed a press release announcing that the company had finished making improvements with the help of outside experts, increasing safety facilities and removing risk factors in 28 production facilities owned by the group. In particular, the group emphasized that it resolved the problem of missing interlocks, which was one of the main causes of the accident in the SPL bakery factory. At the time, SPC said, “We confirmed on average nearly a dozen major issues that required improvements in each location. We increased related facilities and improved the process by installing additional interlocks, safety railings, safety nets and safety covers and removing dangerous elements.” The company further explained, “So far, we have completed nearly 90% of all the measures. We will swiftly finish the remaining improvements and establish and carefully manage a system enabling us to constantly manage risk factors.”

To put SPC’s massive publicity efforts to shame, an interlock was not installed in the mixer bowl lift where the latest accident occurred. SPC explained that the machine in the latest accident was introduced in March and that there was no mandatory regulation on installing an interlock on the mixer. But the group still came under fire for not installing the safety device on the new machine. After all, the company experienced a fatal accident due to its failure to install the safety device earlier and it had stressed the interlock as one of its safety measures. SPC’s competition, CJ Foodville (Tous les Jours) installs and operates interlocks.

Legislator Lee Eun-ju argued, “That interlocks, which the company widely publicized as a measure it had completed last year, were once again mentioned in a prevention plan after the latest death shows that SPC’s declaration of management with a focus on safety was only a trick to avoid a public boycott,” and said, “Chairman Heo of SPC should appear in a parliamentary inspection and personally prove his investment of 100 billion won in safety and the status of improvements in worksites for the health and safety of workers and apologize to the people.”