By Yi Whan-woo
The government has launched an investigation into a fatal chemical leak at a Samsung Electronics microchip plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Wednesday it has formed an investigative unit of 11 officials.
One member said the team will try to find out whether the electronics giant provided safety suits to the five workers who were killed or hurt after 10 liters of hydrofluoric acid spilled from an old pipeline.
The Ministry of Environment said in its separate probe that the provincial authorities negligently conducted a regular safety check on the plant last October when it reported that the site was safe from occupational hazards.
A 34-year-old worker surnamed Park died hours after he was exposed to the colorless acid that can burn the skin and cause blindness and lung cancer. Four others were released from hospital after treatment for injuries to their chests and necks.
Samsung Electronics said Park died because he failed to wear a safety suit it provided. His bereaved family members claim the firm did not provide the protective clothing.
“Finding the truth centering on such a dispute is one of the missions for our investigation team,” a labor ministry official in charge of industrial accident prevention policy said on the condition of anonymity.
The 11 members of the probe team include officials from the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, an organization under the ministry. It focuses on improving safety at the workplace and its officials will look into whether Samsung Electronics carried out necessary maintenance to ensure the safety its employees, the labor ministry said.
“We will punish those responsible if the firm is found to have violated regulations,” the official said.
The incident follows a hydrofluoric acid spill at an industrial complex in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province last September. Five workers were killed and a number of others were injured. The accident occurred as employees hired of medium-sized firm Hube Global tried to move 12 tons of hydrofluoric acid from a tanker to a storage tank without connecting the hose properly.
And the environment ministry said it is considering conducting annual safety checks of its own on such facilities rather than having local governments carry out the work.
“We have come up with such idea since the accident in Gumi, and will push to implement it,” said Cho Eun-hee, director of the environment ministry’s chemical management division.