Late Disclosure of January Referral with Indictment Opinion
Application of Serious Accident Punishment Act... Negligence of Duty as Top Executive
Yeocheon NCC Faces Repeated Safety Accidents
The Ministry of Employment and Labor was belatedly reported on the 23rd to have sent two representatives of Yeocheon NCC to the prosecution with an indictment opinion under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.
The Gwangju Regional Employment and Labor Office under the Ministry of Employment and Labor applied the Serious Accidents Punishment Act to Choi Geum-am and Kim Jae-yul, co-representatives of Yeocheon NCC in Yeosu Industrial Complex, as well as the corporation, and sent them to the Suncheon branch of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office without detention with an indictment opinion in January. This was related to an explosion accident that caused 8 casualties. They are accused of neglecting their duties as top executives to identify risk factors and implement safety measures, resulting in the deaths of 4 workers and injuries to 4 others.
The prosecution is reportedly considering that the cause of the accident was the aging of a 30-year-old heat exchanger and the backing device being manufactured in a way that did not conform to the original design. They are investigating the exact cause of the accident by questioning factory officials.
The accident occurred on February 11 of last year. During a heat exchanger test, an explosion killed 4 people, including 3 workers from the subcontractor Youngjin Technology and 1 Yeocheon NCC work supervisor. Four others sustained moderate to severe injuries. Yeocheon NCC has experienced a series of safety accidents, including a crack in an external pipe on January 26, which caused a leak of toluene-based hazardous substances.
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