Samsung and LG electronics outsourcing their risk (Hankyoreh)

Samsung and LG electronics outsourcing their risk, leading to more methanol poisoning

Labor groups pushing for government to create a mutually beneficial arrangement that makes accidents less likely

A recent string of on-the-job accidents involving methanol poisoning among dispatch workers is prompting calls to hold Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics accountable as main contractors.The labor community issued an open list of questions demanding that the two companies take social responsibility for the accidents, while the government has moved to introduce policies assigning greater management responsibility to main contractors.Solidarity for Workers‘ Health (SWH), the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), and other labor groups held a press conference in front of the Central Government Complex in central Seoul on Mar. 2 to call for “immediate measures by Samsung, LG, and other large mobile phone manufacturers to stop the use of harmful chemicals by their subcontractors and halt their indiscriminate outsourcing practices that pass on the risks of industrial accidents.”The open letter included questions on whether the companies were aware of the use of methanol by their subcontractors, whether they implemented monitoring for worker safety, and how they plan to respond to future methanol poisoning incidents.Since late January, five dispatch workers have suffered loss of vision and other effects of methanol poisoning at three mobile phone parts suppliers in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, and at Namdong Industrial Complex in Incheon. All of the accidents occurred at third- and fourth-level subcontracting businesses producing mobile phone parts for Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.Labor groups said the root cause of the accidents was a multi-level subcontracting structure that allowed the main contractors to sidestep their social responsibility.“These small subcontracting businesses working for electronics giants don’t have the means to prevent industrial accidents, and they use illegal dispatch labor to cut costs,” said FKTU secretary-general Choi Jae-joon, who attended the press conference. “Safety inevitably ends up on the back burner.”For safety reasons, the use of ethyl alcohol is recommended over methanol, but the cost is three times higher. The labor community’s argument is that management at small-scale subcontracting business are unlikely to use the more expensive ethyl alcohol without a mutually beneficial structure between contracting corporations and their subcontractors.The South Korean government has also been working on policies to beef up social accountability for contracting corporations. One approach has involved participation in a Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) program for “industrial safety symbiosis and cooperation” to include both main contractors and subcontracting businesses. Through this program, the Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to encourage corporations to take more social responsibility through transfers of industrial safety technology for the use of methanol and other hazardous materials, consulting on industrial accident prevention, and periodic monitoring.“The current approach, where the government cracks down on abuses at its convenience, is not likely to provide any fundamental solution for the ’risk outsourcing‘ that happens so often in multi-level subcontracting structures,” said a ministry source.“We need to demand greater accountability from main contractors and foster a culture of mutual benefit for contracting corporations and subcontractors alike,” the source

added.By Noh Hyun-woong, staff reporter

#methanol_poisioning #occupational_safety #outsourcing