The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) and police on the 15th searched POSCO headquarters in Pohang, North Gyeongsang, and other locations in connection with an accident in which workers were poisoned by gas.
Earlier, on the 20th of last month, an accident occurred in which three workers cleaning sludge in a sump at a POSCO business site were poisoned by by-product gas (a composite gas generated incidentally during operation of an electric arc furnace) and fell into critical condition.
About 40 labor inspectors from the Daegu Regional Employment and Labor Office and police officers from the North Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency are securing documents related to daily work reports, records of past accidents, and other materials at POSCO headquarters and elsewhere. They are also checking whether the necessary safety measures to prevent hazards from by-product gas during cleaning work were properly implemented.
An official at the labor ministry said, "We will verify directives between the prime contractor and subcontractor, the work methods at the time of the accident, and the safety management system, and we plan to hold those responsible strictly to account if violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act or the Serious Accidents Punishment Act are found by thoroughly determining the root cause of this accident, which left multiple people injured."