"Yangju Accident Subject to Serious Accident Punishment Act"... Ministry of Employment and Labor Begins Investigation

On the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday, the 29th, a landslide occurred at the Sampyo Industrial stone quarry in Yangju-si, Gyeonggi Province, burying three workers. Authorities are conducting rescue operations.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

An accident involving workers being buried at a stone quarry in Yangju-si, Gyeonggi-do has been confirmed to have occurred at a workplace subject to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 29th, at around 10:08 a.m. on the 29th, three workers were buried in an accident at Sampyo Industry Yangju Plant located in Yangju-si, Gyeonggi-do.

Sampyo Industry operates in the ready-mixed concrete manufacturing industry and employs about 930 workers. With a regular workforce of over 50 employees, it is a workplace subject to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which came into effect on the 27th of this month.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor views this accident as potentially the "first case" to which the Serious Accidents Punishment Act will be applied.

The Ministry explained, "Eight labor inspectors from the Occupational Safety and Health Headquarters and the Central Labor Office were dispatched to the accident site, ordered the suspension of related work, and began accident response and investigation into the cause of the disaster."