Semiconductor-maker SK hynix said Friday it has launched a committee to support and compensate its workers who developed life-threatening diseases, including various cancers and leukemia, while working at the firm’s chip factories.

The establishment of the support and compensation group is in line with the firm’s efforts to comply with proposals made last November by an inspection committee for workplace safety and health at the chipmaker, consisting of 11 medical specialists, scholars, industry experts and officials from the management and the labor union.

The inspection committee advised the firm to come up with comprehensive support measures for the workers who had contracted critical diseases.

The number of SK hynix workers diagnosed with cancer stood at 108 from 2010 to 2014 -- 61 workers, or 56.5 percent, were diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Stomach and brain cancer were among other prevalent types of cancer.

The newly launched support committee is comprised of seven members, including Jang Jae-yeon, preventive medicine and public health professor at Ajou University School of Medicine and also the head of the inspection group, and professor Kim Hyoung-ryul of Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital.

The details of the support and compensation were not made public, but will be based on standards and suggestions by the inspection committee, according to the firm.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)