1. A court in Korea ruled in favor of 2 of the
Samsung victims, deciding that their exposures to toxic chemcials played
a role in their devloping their leukemia and was therefore compensable
(see attached translation of the summary of the court decision) - see
also the attached overview of the Samsung worker health issues - See Attachment 1 and 2 below
2. A recent paper by experts in Korea which analyzes the main epidemiological studies done so far on electronics workers --
3. The studies done by Dr. Richard Clapp and NIOSH
http://www.ehjournal.net/
4.
A link to several presentations by health experts at the American
Public Health Association meeting on semiconductor worker health -
5. A resolution passed by the American Public Health Association:
6. An article about the "apology" of a top Samsung official over the deaths of young workers
***** Attachment 1
First approval of Samsung Semiconductor Leukemia
death as occupational disease
On June 23, the Seoul Administrative Court Department 14
(Judge Jin Chang Su) approved the late Samsung Electronics factory workers
Hwang Yumi, and Lee Suk Young's deaths by leukemia as occupational disease.
(23/06/2011 Seoul Administrative Court 2010 1149 decision).
The court announced in the decree that "Despite the fact
that the case of deceased Hwang Yumi and Lee Suk Young didn't reveal a clear
medical etiology on the onset of leukemia, the continual exposure to the
chemical hazard is assumed to have brought the onset of the disease, or at
least, promoted it, hence with significant cause and effect relation, which
arranges the defendant (Korea Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service,
Kcomwel) with illegitimate disposition of refusal to pay the survivor benefits".
Meanwhile, citing the insistence of Samsung that there is not
enough evidence of continuous exposure of hazardous chemicals, the court
dismissed the remaining three (the late Hwang Min Wung of Giheung plant, the
late Kim Ok Yi and Song Chang Ho of Onyang plant). This is a pitiful statement,
for it doesn't rely on facts. The late Hwang Min Wung who was diagnosed of
leukemia while working as an maintenance engineer for 7 years from 1997 to
October of 2004, in the 1, 5th CMP line and Backlap line of Samsung
Semiconductor Giheung plant. However, the court insists with the back up of
Samsung's statement, "The cleaning of facility and the set-up operation
has been conducted from the year 1995 by another contract company", and
concludes that the exposure to the hazardous chemicals cannot be surmised as
continuous, leaving insufficient evidence work related leukemia. But Jung Ae
Jung, wife of Hwang who worked along with him, said that he was in charge of
both the maintenance and set-up operation. The same was applied to Kim
EunKyung(prior Kim Ok Yi) and Song Chang Ho. They concluded that while their
use of toxic materials can be approved, there still is little evidence of
continuous exposure. Although it is pitiful that all 5 workers were not
approved as occupational disease, it is still a meaningful thing to have 2 of
them recognized after the battle of the past four years. To look closely into
details of the judgement basis of the decree of late Hwang Yumi and Lee Suk
Young is as follow:
① Because benzene, 1,3-butadiene, ethylene oxide, and other
chemicals, along with ionizing radiation is a known cause of leukemia, and TCE,
formaldehyde etc. are also suspected as a factor of leukemia, and also when a
human body is exposed to a toxic chemical not yet medically proved to cause
leukemia, considering that it could be due to the fact that etiology has not
been identified correctly, leads to the conclusion that the possibility of
leukemia incidence cannot be ruled out because insufficient scientific
evidence.
② When the participant (Samsung Electronics), handed out the
"Environmental Handbook" to the engineers from 1996, the third line
of Giheung plant was using dozens of chemicals, HCL, POCL3 in the diffusion
line, acetone, IPA, ACT-CMI (dimethylacetamide, 2-methyl-ethanolamine mixture),
methyl chloride, TCE, various thinners, hydrogen peroxide, sulfuric acid,
nitric acid, hydrofluoric acid, hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, acetic aicd
in the wet-cleaning process of etching line, and all these chemicals are irritants
of eye, skin, and respiratory tract. Out of all the chemicals mentioned above,
the ACT-CMI, TCE, and sulfuric acid has been designated as carcinogens, with
TCE as suspicious etiologic fatcor of hematolymphoid malignancies.
③ (With the results of investigation of Seoul National
University Industry-Academic Cooperation) the fifth line which has a very
similar work environment of the third line of Giheung, used 99 kinds of
chemicals, with 13 in the diffusion line, 10 in the cleaining line, and they were
all identified in the measurment despite the small amount. All of these are
irritants of eye, skin and respiratory tract, with arsine and sulfuric acid as
specified carcinogens by IARC, and phosphine specified as a cause of anemia and
leukopenial. Even more the pre stage process of diffusion and wet etch line,
the photolithography line revealed benzene in the photo resistant agent, a well
known risk factor of leukemia, and 2-methoxyethanol, a bonemarrow disturbing
material
④ Even with the local ventilation system installed in the
facility, there were trace of chemicals as mentioned above which could be
inferred to have discharged the toxic chemicals not to a complete degree. And
the late Hwang Yumi and Lee Suk Young has been exposed to a greater degree while
cleaning in the manual wet etch line, and considering the air circulation
system within the line, certain gas leak is apt to spread to other bays, which
adds more exposure of gas emitted from other lines.
⑤ The hazardous chemical above are harmful to human body, so
despite the fact that they were measured to be well beneath the exposure level,
the workers are liable to continuous exposure with long working time in the
same working environment, and the past working conditions of the late Hwang
Yumi and Lee Suk Young is presumed to have greater amount of exposure of the
toxic chemicals. The results of Samsung Electronics work environment
measurement and the report on the epidemiology research of Korean Occupational
Safety and Health Research based on that, reflects only the measurement results
statically analyzed at a particular point of time.
⑥Since the exposure of ionizing radiation with other various
toxic chemicals can cause interactive response, the late Hwang Yumi with short
working period (1year and 8 months), even with low level of exposure under
acceptable standards, can result in the development of leukemia according to
the individual difference of immunity.
⑦ Although the standardized mortality rate or the rate of
cancer register of the semiconductor female workers have wide confidence
interval giving less statistical significance, they still show a higher level
than the general public, so we could estimate that the late Hwang Yumi, Lee Suk
Young's work environment had certain impact in the pathogenesis of leukemia
Although we have not won a full victory, the partial winning
with the above mentioned basis has two important implications.
One is that, with the issue of the hazardous chemicals of the
semiconductor industry and its aftermath of disease being a hot potato these
days globally, Korea has stepped first in approving leukemia(hemo-lymphoid
malignancy) of the semicondoctor worker as an occupational disease.
The second importance is that, this was a result of the
tenacious fight between the Goliath Samsung and the Korean government skewed to
Samsung, and the workers and their family survivors. It was a victory of the
struggle of the victims, conscientious specialists, and many other supporters
who fought for the approval.
Samsung Electronics tried aggressively to prove that this was
not an occupational disease, and submitted massive amount of information and
letters of approval in the current lawsuit, but still couldn't hide the truth.
***************
Attachment 2
Are Toxic Chemicals
the Cause of Cancer Cluster Among Samsung Semiconductor Workers in Korea?
Over 145 people at Samsung plants have become seriously ill, and 56
have died.
Cancer cluster
Workers
at Samsung’s Korean semiconductor factories, as well as their LCD and cell
phone plants, are suffering and dying from blood and brain cancers (such as
leukemia and lymphoma) at an alarming rate.
Three workers in one unit developed Wegener’s
granulomatosis, a rare blood disorder. These are mostly very young
women, many of whom begin work while still in high school. Over 145 people at Samsung’s plants have become seriously ill, and at least
56 of them have died.
|
Type of Plant
|
Victims of occupational diseases
|
Of those victims, number of deaths
|
|
Samsung Semiconductor |
91
|
32
|
|
Samsung LCD: |
17
|
8
|
|
Samsung mobile phone and other electronics |
11
|
7
|
|
Samsung Electromechatronics |
12
|
7
|
|
Samsung SDI |
10
|
2
|
|
Samsung Techwin |
4
|
0
|
|
TOTAL |
145
|
56
|
Occupational
Diseases and Deaths of Samsung Semiconductor and Electronics workers in South Korea
Same Pattern As
With IBM in Silicon Valley and elsewhere in the U.S.
These illnesses and deaths reflect similar
patterns experienced at IBM in Silicon Valley and throughout the United States,
during the heyday of electronics manufacturing there in the 1980s and 1990s.
““The cases at Samsung fit a pattern of
what we saw in the IBM study,” said Richard Clapp, Boston University professor
emeritus of environmental health and epidemiologist who conducted an epidemiological
study of cancer and death rates among IBM workers between 1969 and 2001 that
found elevated rates of blood, brain, lymphatic, and other cancers among
workers likely exposed to manufacturing chemicals.” [2]
Compensation Denied
to Workers
Once
they have been diagnosed and unable to work, these workers (or their families)
have filed claims with the Korean Workers Compensation and Welfare (KCOMWEL)
for compensation and, in some cases, funeral expenses. KCOMWEL is a state run
workers compensation program. Samsung’s worker comp premium rates are linked to
their number and severity of successful claims and KCOMWEL has been denying
these claims, saying there was no proof that they are related to work. A Korean NGO coalition called SHARPS: Supporters for the Health And Rights of People in the Semiconductor
industry has helped the workers file these claims, and has tried to get Samsung
to acknowledge and eliminate the problems, and to compensate the sick workers
and their families. SHARPS has helped two groups of workers to file lawsuits
challenging KCOMWEL’s denial of their worker comp claims.
Court
Ruling Says Deaths Connected to Chemicals; Study Finds Carcinogens in Workplace
In response to the efforts by
SHARPS, there have been three important developments:
2) Since that court decision, the
government ministry overseeing the worker comp agency (KCOMWEL) has ruled in favor of a worker for the first time, and recognized
that the aplastic anemia suffered by a worker as an occupational disease
resulting from her work at Samsung Semiconductor’s Onyang factory;
3) An independent government
study found monitored carcinogens (including benzene and formaldehyde) as well
as radiation in the workplace at Samsung and other semiconductor plants in Korea
Samsung
Stonewalling
Samsung refuses to admit any connection
between the workplace processing and worker cancers. Samsung, which has very
strong ties to the federal government (many people in Korea refer to it as “the Republic of Samsung”),
has a militant anti-union policy. Workers say the workplace is run in a very
strict, almost military-like fashion, where workers are forced to work overtime.
Last year two workers, young men in their 20s, leapt to their deaths, similar
to what’s been much more widely reported at the Foxconn facility in China.
Instead, Samsung commissioned a study by a
consulting firm which supported Samsung’s position that there is no connection
between the worker illnesses and workplace conditions. Meanwhile, Samsung shipped
more smartphones than any other vendor during 2012's first quarter with
42.2 million units.[5]
English Speaking
Press Not Covering This Issue
There has been little coverage of this
issue by the English speaking press. Also, many of the relevant reports are not
yet translated into English. There is a very active coalition of NGOs, called SHARPS - Supporters of Health and
Rights of People in the Semiconductor Industry – which has an English website
chronicling these events and issued: http://stopsamsung.wordpress.com/
Last updated: August 16, 2012
[2] Elizabeth Grossman, Toxics in the ‘Clean Rooms’: Are Samsung Workers at Risk? Environment 360, June 9, 2001, http://e360.yale.edu/feature/toxics_in_the_clean_rooms_are_samsung_workers_at_risk/2414/
[3] 23/06/2011 Seoul Administrative Court 2010, 1149
decision. Summary of the ruling: http://www.icrt.co/node/34
[4] 23/06/2011 Seoul Administrative Court 2010, 1149
decision , text of the ruling (English translation): http://www.icrt.co/node/33
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