Members of the Mando Pyeongtaek Plant Young Irregular Workers Late Kim Seung-mo Major Accident Countermeasures Committee and the bereaved family hold a press conference in front of the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 24th before filing criminal complaints under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and for illegal dispatch against HL Group Chairman Chung Mong-won and others. /Courtesy of Yonhap News

The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) launched a second search and seizure of the headquarters and the plant in connection with a worker's fatal accident at HL Mando's Pyeongtaek factory.

The Pyeongtaek branch office of the Gyeonggi Regional Office of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) said on the 14th that it is executing a search and seizure of the headquarters in Pangyo, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, and the Pyeongtaek plant.

This search and seizure is the second, following a search and seizure of the Pyeongtaek plant and other sites on Aug. 7, in connection with a worker's fatal entanglement accident at HL Mando's Pyeongtaek plant on July 22.

The ministry said it will deploy about 20 labor inspectors to secure evidence materials such as officials' PCs. It plans to examine whether safety measures to prevent entanglement accidents were properly implemented. It will also closely look into whether the management responsible party established and implemented a safety and health management system under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.

A ministry official said, "We recognize the seriousness of recurring entanglement accidents in manufacturing sites," and added, "If there are violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, such as failure to fulfill the duty to ensure safety and health, we plan to take stern action."

The ministry plans to actively use compulsory investigations, including search and seizure and arrests, when a major fatal accident occurs or when failure to observe minimum safety rules causes the same type of accident to recur.

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