The Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon plant, where an explosion killed five workers and injured two, was found to have received a "poor" rating in fire safety inspections by fire authorities for the past two years in a row. There were seven points cited in total. Although the facilities that received the poor rating are unrelated to the site of the explosion on the 1st, some note it shows the company's safety management level.
According to fire authorities on the 3rd, the Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon plant underwent fire safety inspections of its military explosives manufacturing and storage facilities once each last year and this year at the request of a joint inspection by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. The inspection focused on Building 70, where major fire protection systems are concentrated. Fire authorities said Building 70 became those surveyed because fire alarm panels and fire pumps are concentrated there and there was a fire in 2019. The washing room in Building 56, where the explosion occurred on the 1st, was not included in this fire safety inspection.
In last year's inspection, officials discovered that the power control panel had been tampered with to prevent firefighting water from coming out of the suction inlet where fire engines connect hoses to receive water at a fire scene. As a result, fines were imposed. The power control panel is a device that controls the operation of fire pumps and fire suppression systems in the event of a fire.
In the April inspection this year, six items were cited. There was a recommendation to add emergency exit indicator lights in front of the break room for the charging and curing process on the first floor of Building 70 and in front of the break room for the combustion tube preparation process, and leaks in the main pump shared by indoor and outdoor sprinklers and in the jockey pump, which keeps internal pressure in the fire suppression piping constant, were also identified for repair.
Other cited items included repairing the indicator lights that show the jockey pump's operating status, correcting the nameplate on the power control panel, removing stored items from the power control panel room, and placing a boundary zone directory at the fire alarm panel. Fire authorities said all issues found in last year's and this year's fire safety inspections have been addressed.
Building 56, where the explosion occurred, is a facility not subject to the obligation to report in-house inspection results or to install sprinklers. With an area of 243㎡, Building 56 is not among those required by fire law to report in-house inspection results to the local fire station. It also does not meet the criteria requiring sprinkler installation, so no sprinklers were installed, and it was reported that only one large fire extinguisher was placed inside.