Locker in Break Room Falls with a 'Thud,' Causing Lower Body Paralysis... Union Calls It a "Haphazard Facility, a Foreseeable Accident"

The scene at the time of the accident when a wardrobe attached to the wall fell down in the break room of a high school cafeteria in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi. / Photo by Gyeonggi School Staff Union

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] An accident occurred in which a wardrobe that was attached to the wall of a high school cafeteria break room fell, injuring four cooks, one of whom became paralyzed from the waist down.

According to the Gyeonggi Branch of the National School Irregular Workers' Union (Gyeonggi Hakbi Union) on the 10th, at around 9:15 a.m. on the 7th, a wardrobe hanging on the wall in the break room of a high school cafeteria in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, fell, injuring four cooks including Cook A, who was sitting on the floor resting, and they were taken to the hospital.

As a result of the accident, Cook A suffered a serious injury causing paralysis from the waist down, while the other three sustained minor injuries. Cook A underwent emergency surgery once at the hospital and is currently receiving treatment in the intensive care unit. Regarding the apology, the union criticized it as a "foreseeable human-caused accident due to haphazard installation."

The union explained, "The break room where the accident occurred is so cramped that nine cooking staff cannot even stretch their legs properly, so it seems they had no choice but to attach the wardrobe for work clothes to the upper part of the wall," adding, "It appears the accident happened because it was precariously installed with short screws without even an 'L'-shaped bracket."

They continued, "This is a problem that could easily occur in other schools as well," and said, "The union has been demanding a solution to the break room issue, which has no clear standards, for more than ten years, but no improvements have been made. This is a clear human-caused accident."

The union also criticized the school's response for deploying other workers who were not injured to work without stopping operations immediately after the accident.

They stated, "Out of a total of nine staff members, four were injured, including one with a serious injury, yet the school forced the remaining five workers to continue cooking duties," and pointed out, "The Industrial Safety and Health Act clearly states that work should be stopped if an industrial accident is foreseeable, but this was not considered at all."

In response, the provincial education office explained that they could not suddenly cancel student meals on the day of the accident, so they could not stop work and deployed substitute personnel. They also stated that they would apply for industrial accident compensation for Cook A, who suffered serious injuries.

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