Parcel delivery worker suffers stroke apparently from overwork

SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Yonhap) -- A parcel delivery worker has suffered a hemorrhagic stroke while on duty this week as authorities are working to draw up measures to protect couriers following a series of deaths in their profession, apparently from overwork, an advocacy group said Thursday.

According to the group supporting couriers, the 58-year-old man, working for Hanjin Transportation Co., the logistics arm of Hanjin Group, fell unconscious from the stroke while delivering parcels at an apartment complex in eastern Seoul on Monday.

He was found unconscious in his delivery truck by a security guard there and sent to a nearby hospital. He received surgery and woke up Wednesday, according to the group.

"The courier has been working around 14 hours per day, sorting and delivering between 270 and 280 parcels every day," the group said.

In October, Hanjin Transportation Co. said it planned to gradually dispatch an additional workforce of 1,000 people to its branches across the country starting in November as part of efforts to help reduce the excessive workload of couriers.

But the workers' advocacy group said the plan has yet to be implemented.

As of October, 15 delivery workers have died apparently due to overwork this year, according to the group.

nyway@yna.co.kr
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