Gyeonggi Province has identified four violations through inspections of other hazardous chemical sites in the province, including lithium, related to the Hwaseong factory fire.
The Gyeonggi Provincial Special Judicial Police announced on the 16th that from the 8th to the 12th, they conducted a thorough inspection of manganese and nickel handling companies in the province, focusing on storage, manufacturing, and transportation businesses, as well as 46 users and sellers, confirming four violations at four companies.
The main violations included three cases of violating hazardous chemical handling standards and one case of failing to conduct self-inspections.
In the detected cases, companies A, B, and C stored different types of chemicals in the same storage facility without separating them with partitions or floor markings to maintain necessary spacing, as required, and were caught for mixing hazardous chemicals without distinction during this crackdown.
Additionally, company D failed to conduct regular inspections of hazardous chemical handling facilities and equipment at least once a week, as required.
Under the current Chemical Substances Control Act, violating hazardous chemical handling standards, failing to conduct weekly self-inspections of hazardous chemical handling facilities and equipment, or failing to record and keep inspection results for five years can each result in imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 50 million KRW.
The special judicial police plan to refer all violating companies to the prosecution and notify the relevant administrative authorities.
A representative of the special judicial police stated, "Careful attention from handlers is necessary to prevent chemical accidents that could potentially lead to major disasters," adding, "We will conduct annual inspections to preemptively block risk factors causing chemical accidents and strive to make Gyeonggi Province safe for its residents."
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