Visited Factory on the 5th for Fire Prevention Consulting... "Emergency Response and Hazardous Material Characteristics Explained"
In March This Year, Warned of 'Risk of Casualties'... Identified Issues in Production Line of Factory Building 3
Fire authorities warned Arisell, a primary battery manufacturer in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, which suffered a large-scale casualty of 31 people, about the "possibility of casualties in case of fire" before the accident, and it has been revealed that they even visited the factory to provide "fire prevention consulting."
The Gyeonggi Provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters ordered local fire stations on April 17 to conduct fire prevention consulting for facilities handling Class 3 spontaneously combustible substances and forbidden substances under the Hazardous Materials Safety Control Act. Accordingly, the Namyang 119 Safety Center of Hwaseong Fire Station conducted fire prevention consulting at three facilities handling Class 3 hazardous materials in the jurisdiction starting from April 24. Among the three, the Arisell factory was visited on May 5, just 19 days before the fire occurred, for fire prevention consulting. At that time, four people including the head of the Namyang 119 Safety Center visited and explained emergency response methods such as evacuation to three safety management staff members of the Arisell factory, described the characteristics of Class 3 hazardous materials, and introduced cases of hazardous material accidents. They also inspected the indoor storage where lithium was kept and confirmed hazardous material storage and permit matters.
Earlier, fire authorities also warned about the possibility of casualties if a fire broke out at Arisell. According to the "Fire Activity Data Investigation Report" obtained from Hwaseong Fire Station and disclosed on the 26th by the office of Representative Wi Seong-gon of the Democratic Party, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, the Namyang 119 Safety Center investigated the fire conditions of the Arisell factory on March 28.
Fire authorities conduct data investigations once a year for factories with a total floor area of 15,000㎡ or more, and once every two years for places with a total floor area of 15,000㎡ or less, like the Arisell factory. According to this year's investigation report, under the "Factors for Fire Spread" section, it states, "There are 11 buildings on the site, and there is concern about rapid fire spread in case of an incident."
In particular, under the "Areas with Concern for Multiple Casualties" section, it states, "There is concern for casualties due to rapid fire spread in Building 3's product production line." Considering that the fire started on the second floor of Building 3 at the Arisell factory, fire authorities had already pointed out the risk of an accident and the possibility of large-scale casualties.
Despite receiving fire prevention consulting in advance and warnings about the possibility of fire and casualties, this tragedy, which resulted in 23 deaths, is expected to raise controversy over Arisell's safety negligence and poor management. The police and Ministry of Labor have booked five people, including Arisell CEO Park Soon-kwan, the general headquarters director, safety officers, and personnel from the manpower dispatch company, on charges such as professional negligence causing death or injury and violation of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, and have imposed travel bans on them.
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