 |
| A giant crane collapsed at Samsung Heavy Industries' shipyard in Geoje on May 1, 2017, killing six workers and injuring 25. Yonhap |
By Park Si-soo
Two Korean civic groups have filed a joint complaint with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), asking the international organization to scrutinize the deadly crane collapse at Samsung Heavy Industries in 2017 that claimed six lives.
The complaint was submitted to the OECD's liaison offices, called National Contract Point (NCP), in Korea, France and Norway, said the NGOs ― the Samsung Heavy Industries Martin Linge Project Crane Accident Workers Support Team and the Korean Transnational Corporations Watch (KTNC).
Korea is home to Samsung Heavy, and France and Norway have companies involved in the accident-hit project ― Technip of France as the leader of the project consortium and Total Norge of Norway as a contractor.
The NGOs claimed the three companies had failed to abide by OECD's guidelines on worksite safety and human rights and thus are obliged to share responsibility for the deadly accident. But they said that while Technip and Total Norge had tried to shun taking responsibility, Samsung had been lazy in upgrading its safety system even after the accident, leaving workers at risk of another worksite disaster.
Companies with headquarters in OECD member countries, including South Korea, France and Norway, are encouraged to comply with the guidelines, although they are not legally binding.
"We hope the OECD will take action in response to the complaint," said Lee Hwan-choon, an attorney who offers legal advice to the NGOs.
"Its action will be helpful in finding a breakthrough for the long-pending trouble and in pressing companies to advance their safety systems and comply with related guidelines."
