As a follow-up measure after the tragic accident, SPC Group launched Safety Management Committee on November 14th. Headed by the chairman, Gap-yeong Jeong, former president of Yonsei University, the safety council consists of experts from various fields. The safety management committee is changing things from a scratch for improving working conditions at all subsidiaries of SPC Group by supervising and monitoring various matters related to industrial safety, working environment, and social responsibility.
Especially the chairman, Gap-yeong Jeong served as the 17th president of Yonsei University, the first chairman of the Audit and Innovation Committee of the Board of Audit and Inspection, the chairman of the Prosecutor’s Future Development Commission Supreme Prosecutors’ Office. He is acting as an advisory body for various government and public bodies, currently serving as the president of the Board of Directors of Korean Air and president of UNICEF Korea.
He is vigorously active on his YouTube channel called ‘Gap-yeong Jeong TV’ and actively interacts with his 10,000 subscribers. It’s been one month since the establishment of the Safety Management Committee, we had the opportunity to hear about the organization’s activities in the past one month and SPC Group’s future plans for safety management with the chairman, Gap-yeong Jeong.
Laying the Foundation Stones for Safety Management
Gap-yeong Jeong, the chairman of the Safety Management Committee
Q. What led you to accept the offer for the presidency of the Safety Management Committee?
I thought that my experience could help SPC Group reshape its safety management and regain the trust of its customers, so I decided to accept the post.
Q. On November 18th, Safety Management Committee held its first official meeting. What was the subject of discussion at this meeting?
A meeting was conducted between the members of the Safety Management Committee and the representatives of the subsidiaries of SPC Group. We reached a consensus on the duties and the method of operation of the Safety Management Committee. At this meeting, it was agreed that securing an independent, neutral, and objective Safety Management Committee is the most important task. Furthermore, even if difficulties are experienced in implementing the Safety Management Committee’s proposals, we have requested each subsidiary to actively devise solutions and ensure their execution for practical implementation.
Q. As the chairman of the committee, what prime concerns do you think need to be addressed?
SPC Group will not only take care of industrial safety but also the working environment, social responsibility, etc., and planning a stricter safety management and advanced safety culture.
Safety Management Committee Prioritizing Workers
SPC Safety Management Committee (From left Yeong-woo Cheon, Gap-yeong Jeong, Hyeon-wook Jo, and Ji-won Jeong)
Q. After establishment, you visited all domestic factories. How did it change your opinion prior to the appointment?
I made a vague guess that there must be a reason behind the tragic accident, as such places are prone to such accidents. But after inspecting the accident site, I discovered that accidents can happen even in the least likely places. So irrespective of the emphasis on preventive measures, accidents cannot fully be prevented.
Q. What are the difficulties faced by the workers? And what steps are you taking to solve those problems?
The labor union hearkening the voices of workers
For smooth operation of work, we received suggestions of supplementing manpower, replacing equipment for improvement in work performance, and expansion of workspace, and conducting a stretching session before work. Safety can only be ensured through physical inspection, therefore, no matter how trivial something seems, it needs to be thoroughly inspected physically. Members of the Safety Management Committee conveyed their opinion to the labor union employees to actively recommend the company for improvement in areas such as industrial safety, working environment, and corporate culture.
Q. We completed the safety diagnosis with the help of some external agencies. What actions did you take following the safety inspection?
Gap-yeong Jeong, examines the infrastructure for improvement of work culture
We have worked on increasing safety equipment like Interlocks, safety guards, safety handrails, CCTV, etc., furthermore, we have already taken action on 90% of the demands. We will not stop at just solving the remaining issues, but we plan to build policies for strengthening systematic safety.
Q. What steps are you taking to improve work culture, and strengthen solidarity within the company?
It is important to restore the trust of workers by making the workplace safe. The workers have high expectations from the company regarding change, and there is an increased interest in safety among workers.
Safety Management Committee SPC Group plans to overcome this crisis and improve by strictly supervising each subsidiary and providing unstinting advice and suggestions related to the required conditions for change. The labor and management have to cooperate to achieve a healthy and happy work environment, overcome the current challenges and restore customers’ faith.
New Safety Policies of Safety Management Committee
From left the chairman, Gap-yeong Jeong and Hyeon-wook Jo of the Safety Management Committee
Q. What are the future plans of the Safety Management Committee?
Other than visiting work sites including SPL, Safety Management Committee inaugurated the Work Environment Improvement Task Force for the amendment of work conditions. We are also pushing forth measures for strengthening safety management and creating an advanced work culture.
To make up for the shortcomings in industrial safety, work environment, and social responsibility SPC Group will construct short-term, middle-term and long-term courses of action for safety. We will execute all stages of the process with scrupulousness and also collect the opinions of the workers and internal/external officials to yield desirable changes.
Q. What sort of efforts should SPC Group make to regain the faith of customers?
To regain the trust of customers we have to show a transformed face of the company. Expansion of safety infrastructure and replacing the existing machinery can be done over a short period of time but establishing a new work culture is a time-consuming process. But change is necessary even if it takes time. SPC Group will do everything to regain the trust of its customers.
Using a safety road map as its course of action, SPC Group’s Safety Management Committee will take care of work environment, social responsibility as a whole and build an advanced safety management system. SPC Group will form a new safety management culture and we promise to do our best to prevent such incidents from happening again.
