Since 2007, over 100 Samsung factory workers in South Korea have died due to work-related diseases, while hundreds more have fallen ill. A 2017 report revealed that workers in a Vietnamese Samsung factory were prone to illness, and miscarriages were so common among pregnant women that they were expected.
Something is wrong when so many people are falling ill simply by doing their jobs.
In 2018, Samsung finally began taking steps to clean up its supply chain. Samsung published a list of 11 chemicals it is restricting or banning in its supply chain. Samsung also signed a binding agreement which includes implementing safety measures in Korean Samsung factories and fairer compensation schemes for victims.
While these are promising first steps, they are not enough.
The electronics industry uses more than 11 chemicals. In fact, other industry leaders have begun publishing more comprehensive Manufacturing Restricted Substances Lists (MRSL) that detail restrictions in chemical use and plans for replacing hazardous chemicals with alternatives.
Furthermore, the two chemicals that Samsung banned – n-hexane and benzene – were banned by Apple back in 2014, thanks to consumer pressure from Green Americans. This shows that, despite the progress Samsung is beginning to make, Samsung is behind the curve with their chemical policy.
Meanwhile, although Samsung is implementing safety measures and compensation schemes for Korean factory workers, these measures do not extend to Samsung factory workers in other countries. And this is a big problem – over half of Samsung’s cell phones are manufactured in Vietnam alone.
Although we celebrate the steps that Samsung has begun to take to improve labor conditions within their supply chain, these are just the first steps in improving labor conditions for Samsung factory workers. Without a comprehensive plan to monitor and remove hazardous chemicals from Samsung factories, young workers continue to risk their lives every day just by doing their jobs.
Stand up for Samsung workers by signing this open letter to Samsung’s CEO calling for the company to protect all their workers.