'Hwaseong Fire' Arisel Workers Say "Never Received Safety Training"

"Don't Even Know Where the Emergency Exit Is"

Workers at the Arisel factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, where a fire accident occurred, claimed that they did not receive safety training from the management.

On the 25th, officials from the National Forensic Service are conducting an on-site investigation at the fire scene of a primary battery manufacturing factory in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang aymsdream@

On the afternoon of the 29th at around 2:30 PM, about ten people including Baek, a man in his 30s who worked at Arisel until the fire broke out on the 24th, visited the memorial altar set up at Hwaseong City Hall to pay their respects. Baek stated, "We were dispatched to Arisel through the subcontractor Maycell, and the work instructions were given by Arisel personnel." It is illegal dispatch for the primary contractor to give work orders or command to dispatched workers.

He also claimed that they never received separate safety training from the employer. He said, "I have never received any safety training and did not even know where the emergency exits were," adding, "In the morning, we were only told not to drop batteries on the ground because they could explode."

Earlier, Park Jung-eon, the head of Arisel, held a public apology press conference in front of the factory on the 25th, stating, "(Regarding fire escape) we conduct regular and continuous training on the exits," and added, "Emergency evacuation manuals in Korean, English, and Chinese are placed throughout the facility, and emergency evacuation maps have also been drawn."