Basic safety devices were not installed on the equipment involved in an entrapment accident at an Ourhome plant in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, where a subcontractor employee was injured, an investigation found.
According to police and other sources Friday, the Yongin Dongbu Police Station conducted two on-site investigations on Thursday and Friday, confirming that the conveyor belt where the accident occurred had no safety cover or emergency stop device installed. A safety cover prevents a worker's body or clothing from being drawn into equipment, while an emergency stop device immediately halts machine operation when an accident occurs.
Earlier, at around 2:50 p.m. Thursday, a subcontractor worker in his 50s, identified as A, had his neck caught in a conveyor belt at the fish cake skewer packaging workshop on the fourth floor of Ourhome's Yongin Plant No. 2 in Namsa-eup, Cheoin-gu, Yongin. Rescued in cardiac arrest, A remained unconscious and was receiving treatment as of Friday, the second day after the accident.
Police presume the accident occurred when the sanitary cap (hood) A was wearing during work was drawn into the conveyor belt machine. The site manager of the subcontractor A belonged to was also found to have stated to police on Thursday to the effect that "because such safety devices were not installed on the machine involved in the accident, we had requested improvements from Ourhome several times."
The serious accident investigation team of the Metropolitan Crime Investigation Unit at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency took over the case from the Yongin Dongbu Police Station and is intensively examining the circumstances of the accident and whether safety measures were carried out. Police are considering booking those responsible on charges of professional negligence causing injury if circumstances are confirmed showing the company did not sufficiently implement safety measures to prevent industrial accidents.
At Yongin Plant No. 2, where this accident occurred, a worker in his 30s also died in April last year after his neck was caught in cooling equipment.
Asked whether safety devices had been installed, an Ourhome official said, "This is a matter currently under investigation by local government and government agencies, so it is difficult to provide specific details," adding, "We will actively cooperate with the investigation to determine the cause and do our best to address the aftermath of the accident."
