Biz: 23 People Dead Arisel's So-Called 'Excellence' in Risk Assessment: A Tragic Farce of Incompetence
The Arisel factory has awarded 'excellent workplace' without giving any safety education or whatsoever to their workers. Probably the company considered their foreign expats as expendables.
This safety practice is like the South Korea military much influenced by military junta of 7080s. They don't value human lives exactly like former military junta. South Korea is a little richer authoritarian dictatorship in that perspective.
The Arisel factory in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, proudly touted as a 'risk assessment excellence workplace,' turns out to be a dangerous joke. A fire at the factory killed 23 people, and the workers are now revealing a chilling truth: they never received any safety training. The police are scrambling to investigate this comedy of errors.
The Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency's Arisel Fire Accident Investigation Headquarters announced on the 30th that they are probing the claims of workers who, until the 24th, had no idea where the emergency exits were and never saw a day of safety training.
A week after the fire, more than 20 witnesses have been called to shed light on Arisel's chaotic safety management. Their testimonies paint a damning picture of a workplace devoid of basic safety protocols.
Currently, the police are buried in the task of analyzing the seized documents and electronic information from Arisel, a process expected to take two to three weeks. There's a real possibility that CEO Park Sun-kwan and other top brass will be summoned for questioning.
"We can't disclose details of the witness statements as the investigation is ongoing," a police official said, adding to the frustration of those seeking answers.
Meanwhile, labor authorities are investigating potential breaches of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Fatal Accident Punishment Act. Ironically, it has come to light that Arisel was named a 'risk assessment excellence workplace' for three years straight.
Representative Park Hong-bae of the Democratic Party of Korea disclosed that Arisel scored 81 points in a risk assessment by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency in February 2021, easily surpassing the 70-point requirement to be lauded as an 'excellent workplace.'
Risk assessment is supposed to be a thorough process of identifying and mitigating hazards, mandated by law to include worker participation annually. Yet, Arisel’s so-called excellence was nothing but a facade.
"It is crucial to implement measures that ensure workers' opinions are genuinely reflected in the safety management system, including risk assessments," said Rep. Park, highlighting the farcical nature of Arisel’s safety practices.
In a related note of tragedy, the first funeral for one of the deceased workers was held this morning, quietly and privately, per the family's wishes. This solemn event underscores the human cost of Arisel's gross negligence and the bitter irony of its ill-gotten 'excellence' title.