An outsourced worker at a large shipyard in Geoje, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, had his arm amputated after being hit by flying debris.
At around 4:30 p.m. on May 8, a crane weighing about 800 tons at Samsung Heavy Industries’ Geoje Shipyard had a broken wire accident during a 400-ton load test. The broken fragments flew into a nearby workshop and hit the arm of an outsourced worker named A.
A was then immediately taken to the hospital for treatment and suture surgery. The accident resulted in the amputation of A’s arm. Fortunately, the fragments did not hit any other part of the body, otherwise it would have been very likely that A. would have lost his life.
Preliminary investigation reports showed that the accident was caused by overheating of the wires during the crane load test, and the steel wires broke due to overload.
On May 11, the Geoje Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice issued a statement calling for safety measures. The organization made it clear in the statement: “Despite the amputation of a worker’s arm, Samsung Heavy Industries has not explained the structural reasons and has not taken measures to prevent the accident from happening again. This can be seen as shirking its responsibility to manage worker safety. We call on Samsung Heavy Industries to take a responsible attitude and call on the government to take effective measures.”
The organization added: “Samsung Heavy Industries’ evasion of responsibility and focus on cost-cutting can be compared to the barbarism and greed of capitalism, a move that has led to the destruction of the industrial structure, which is a crisis of labor and industrial safety faced by the entire Korean society, and we call on Samsung Heavy Industries to adopt a responsible attitude and on the government to take effective measures. ”
Regarding the accident, Samsung Heavy Industries said: “The company is thoroughly investigating the accident and will pay more attention to safety management.”