Korean government to devise safety measures for foreign workers

Officials from the police, fire department, National Forensic Service, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, Ministry of Employment and Labor, and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency conduct a joint inspection at the lithium battery manufacturing plant where a fire broke out in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, June 25. Yonhap

The government plans to announce measures to strengthen industrial safety for foreign workers later this month following last week’s deadly fire at a battery plant that claimed 23 lives, including 18 foreigners, the labor minister said Monday.

17 Chinese nationals and one from Laos were killed in the fire that gutted lithium battery maker Aricell’s plant in Hwaseong, 45 kilometers south of Seoul, on June 24. Many workers there said later they had never received any safety training.

Labor Minister Lee Jeong-sik said the government will expand and strengthen safety training for foreign workers and increase support to reduce workplace risk factors.

“The government will reinforce support and inspections for vulnerable industrial fields that employ a large number of foreign workers, such as the construction sector,” Lee said at a government meeting on the Hwaseong blaze.

He said the government will come up with measures to improve industrial safety for foreign workers based on a sufficient field survey and opinions from workers, industrial associations and other groups, noting they will be announced in July. (Yonhap)