Samsung Electronics has conducted its first inspection on human rights at its smartphone manufacturing plants in Vietnam, where health, safety and labor violation issues regarding female workers have been raised. 

According to the company’s recently released sustainability report 2019, Samsung said it had run on-site inspections, including interviews and document reviews, for Human Rights Impact Assessment from last year to earlier this year, as part of the procedure for due diligence based on the UN’s guiding principles on business and human rights.

This came after UN human rights experts voiced concerns last year about the report from the human rights agency IPEN, which interviewed female workers and reported that miscarriage, extreme fatigue, fainting and dizziness have been common among workers at Samsung’s two factories in Vietnam. The company has denied such claims. 

Samsung stressed that the inspection was carried out to achieve its goal to analyze risks and opportunities related to human rights impact; minimize human rights violation risks; take improvement measures; and strengthen capabilities of employees and the management through constructive conversation. 

“To secure a healthy, safe working environment for employees, the company operates a medical clinic inside the company equipped with 93 sickbeds,” Samsung Electronics said in the report. 

It also stated that there are 22 “mommy rooms” for pregnant employees and that it has deployed obstetrics and gynecology doctors for them. 

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)