Hankook Tire Report Stirs Dispute
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
A dispute is deepening between Hankook Tire management, the government and family members of workers who died working for the company over a report acknowledging the possible responsibility for the deaths.
The families asked for the company to take full responsibility.
A government report said a connection between the solvent used in manufacturing tires and the deaths of the workers was highly unlikely. Instead, they said heavy workloads might have caused the deaths of 13 people at the plant in Daejeon between May 2006 and October 2007.
The Ministry of Labor said high room temperatures may have caused heart disease while heavy workloads and frequent night shifts may have affected workers' coronary arteries.
The investigation team admitted that the death toll of the workers was unusually high.
The bereaved families, who have consistently alleged that toxic chemicals used as solvents caused the sudden deaths, said the report was not enough.
They said the research was based on false information since the company was aware of visits in advance and the workplace was cleaned before the arrival of inspectors.
``Toluene, benzene, dioxin, asbestos, mercury and manganese are all toxic and used during the manufacturing of tires. Of course these would harm the workers,'' a representative of the family said, alleging there are about 10 more unreported victims.
The families claimed that the government is doing the tire maker a favor, since the head of the family is related to President-elect Lee Myung-bak. Lee's son-in-law is the company's vice president.
They vowed to start an investigation of their own to ask for proper compensation and the installation of safety facilities.
``We are receiving information that residents near the plant have health problems. Our investigation will cover all former and incumbent workers, as well as residents nearby, their health problems and the environment at the plant,'' the representative said. The groups have also been holding rallies in front of the regional labor office.
The investigation team's decision to let third parties determine the exact cause of death drew harsh criticism. ``Cancer and other diseases are usually caused by multiple factors and it is wrong to pick out just one factor,'' a government spokesman said.
After the initial report, Hankook Tire requested reports refrain from using the term ``linked.' ``Highly likely'' was to be used instead.
Also, the complany explained that the 10 alleged unreported victims were not confirmed by the investigation team. The company spokeswoman Chung Jae-won said the company belives some of them were included in the investigation list or have no problem in reality.
She refuted that cleaning at a point cannot affect the research subjected to more than 10 years term, and the 13 deceased people were not all from Daejeon plant.
The company said it deeply sympathizes with family members and that it is willing to do whatever it can to help them. But it again emphasized there was little possibility of a chemical linkage to the deaths.
The company, previously caught for violating Industrial Safety and Health Laws 1,394 times and trying to cover up 183 industrial accidents, said it had taken corrective measures.