‘Deja Vu of the Late Kim Yong-gyun Accident’... Fatal Accident at Sampyo Cement Samcheok Plant

Union: "The Accident Could Have Been Prevented If Only Two-Person Teams Were Maintained"
Company Refutes Union's Claim, Confirming Two-Person Team Work Was Followed

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] "There have been 14 industrial accident cases identified from August last year to May this year. Including unreported accidents, the number is even higher. Workers at the site are continuously experiencing various injuries, both major and minor."

On the 13th, Lee Jae-hyung, head of the Sampyo branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Gangwon Regional Headquarters at Sampyo Cement Samcheok Plant, where a workplace fatality occurred, said, "If the two-person team work system had been followed, if there had been just one more person, the victim could have been saved," adding, "Currently, each line operates with one person, and if a problem arises, support comes from the adjacent line. But by the time a problem occurs, it is already too late, so it is useless."

At around 11 a.m. on the 13th, Kim (62), a subcontractor employee working alone at Sampyo Cement in Samcheok, Gangwon, was found dead with his head caught in the conveyor belt that feeds fuel into the kiln. At the time of the accident, the site was undergoing maintenance and inspection work with the equipment stopped according to the overall equipment maintenance plan. However, Kim was found with his head caught in the conveyor belt that had been stopped.

The exact cause of the accident is currently under investigation. It will be clarified after investigations by the police and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency whether the conveyor belt was briefly operated due to a mechanical defect causing the worker to be caught, or if the accident occurred by mistake while manually restarting the belt to remove foreign objects caught between the belts.

Despite the dangerous nature of the work, the union claims that Kim was working alone when the accident happened. The union has continuously requested the enforcement of the "two-person team" work system, which is also stipulated in the "Kim Yong-gyun Act" (Amendment to the Occupational Safety and Health Act) that has been in effect since January 16. However, the union asserts that Sampyo Cement did not comply with the Kim Yong-gyun Act.

Because Kim was a subcontractor employee and died in a conveyor belt accident while working alone, the case is similar to that of Kim Yong-gyun (then 25 years old), whose accident sparked national outrage.

Sampyo Cement has stopped operating only Kiln No. 6, where the accident occurred, while continuing to operate the rest of the lines, including Kiln No. 7, which is the same type of equipment. On the 15th, Sampyo announced, "We will increase the operating rate of the remaining kilns to minimize the impact of the shutdown." They plan to increase the operating rate of the other kilns regardless of the worker's death.

Lee, the branch head, appealed, "We are demanding the company create a safe workplace where workers are not injured, sickened, or killed," and added, "Is it such an unreasonable demand to ask for two-person team work? What use is the related law if it is not followed?"

Regarding this accident, Sampyo Cement expressed condolences on the 19th through a statement from CEO Moon Jong-gu, saying, "We deeply mourn the deceased who tragically lost their life at our company’s workplace and extend our sincere condolences and sympathy to the bereaved family."

A Sampyo official refuted the union’s claims, stating, "We understand that the work was done in four shifts with three teams and two-person teams, but why he was alone needs to be determined by investigating the work route through the accident investigation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.