Unceasing Safety Accidents... Heightened Awareness of the Serious Accident Punishment Act in the Food Industry

Increased Industry Attention Due to SPL Bakery Factory Fatal Accident
Maeil Dairies External Pallet Automatic Feeder Body Entrapment Accident
CCTV and Supervision Absence Under Scrutiny

The mixer ordered to be shut down inside the SPL bakery factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, where a worker fatality occurred on the 15th. Photo by SPL

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] Recently, as various safety accidents have occurred in the food and beverage industry, awareness of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which had previously been focused mainly on the construction and steel industries, is increasing within the distribution and food sectors as well.

According to the industry on the 18th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor is currently investigating whether the Serious Accidents Punishment Act was violated in relation to the death of a worker in his 20s at the SPL bakery factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on the 15th.

The SPL workplace is subject to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. Enforced on January 27 of this year, the Act stipulates that if a serious accident such as a worker's death occurs at a workplace with 50 or more regular employees, and it is found that the employer or management responsible violated the obligation to establish a safety and health management system, they may be sentenced to imprisonment for more than one year or fined up to 1 billion KRW.

SPL is an affiliate of SPC Group, established primarily for the manufacture and sale of frozen raw dough products, producing bread products such as Paris Baguette. Approximately 1,300 employees work there.

The deceased worker in his 20s is reported to have been caught by the upper body in a mixing machine used to make sandwich sauce at a height of 1 meter at the time of the accident. According to SPL, the machine is operated by two-person teams, and the accident occurred when the deceased worker’s colleague briefly left the spot.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor has currently ordered a work stoppage at the site and is focusing on inspecting the manual that required a female worker to handle a 20kg sauce mixing container alone, as well as the on-site monitoring system and the presence of safety accident prevention equipment.

In the food and distribution industry, safety-related accidents have continued without pause this year, beyond just this entrapment accident.

Last month, seven people, including subcontracted workers, died in an underground parking lot fire at Hyundai Outlet in Daejeon, and in April, a worker was caught in an automatic pallet supply machine outside the factory at Maeil Dairy’s Pyeongtaek plant.

At the SPL Pyeongtaek factory where this fatal accident occurred, a hand entrapment accident also happened last week.

An industry official in the distribution sector said, “Since food and beverage operations are centered around manufacturing plants, if the recent incidents and accidents are found to violate the Serious Accidents Punishment Act through investigations, it is expected to cause a significant impact within the industry,” adding, “It is highly likely that the entire industry will strengthen manuals and other measures related to safety accidents.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.