Without Checking if Power was Off... POSCO E&C Highway Site

[Financial News]  At the highway construction site undertaken by POSCO E&C, a worker of Myanmar nationality was electrocuted and fell into a coma, revealing that power cutoff measures were not implemented at the time of the accident. As it was confirmed that work continued without adhering to safety manuals, the controversy over poor safety management is growing.
According to the police on the 8th, a Myanmar national, Mr. A (in his 30s), suffered an electric shock while inspecting a pump installed in an underground puddle at the Gwangmyeong~Seoul highway extension construction site in Ok-gil-dong, Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do, around 1:30 PM on the 4th. He has not regained consciousness yet.
The police investigation revealed that the circuit breaker of the distribution board supplying power to the pump was not turned off. At the time, Mr. A was in the process of connecting a rope to the pump, which had mud inflow, to lift it with heavy equipment, but it was deployed with the power still on.
This construction site has a basic safety rule that states 'power must be cut off when approaching equipment that may have current flowing,' but it was not followed at the time of the accident.
The police are investigating the construction officials to find out why the power cutoff was omitted and how the safety manual was actually applied on site.
Additionally, the gloves Mr. A was wearing at the time of the electrocution have also become an issue. The police have obtained statements from site workers that Mr. A was wearing regular cotton gloves instead of insulated gloves, and they are checking whether the construction side provided insulated equipment.
A police official stated, "We are investigating the overall safety management status, including whether mandatory equipment was provided and whether safety education was conducted for workers."




jjw@fnnews.com Jiwoo Jeong Reporter