Special inspection begins one month after blast killed five workers

Labor ministry, arms procurement agency and fire authorities conduct joint check on military explosives management

The devastated scene at Hanwha Aerospace's Daejeon plant in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, following a fire and explosion on June 1 that killed five workers, left one with severe burns across the body and injured another. [Yonhap]
The devastated scene at Hanwha Aerospace's Daejeon plant in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, following a fire and explosion on June 1 that killed five workers, left one with severe burns across the body and injured another. [Yonhap]

The Ministry of Employment and Labor has launched a special inspection of Hanwha Aerospace's Daejeon plant, where a fire and explosion on June 1 killed five workers.

The Daejeon Regional Employment and Labor Office said Monday it was conducting the special inspection of the plant in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, to prevent a recurrence of fire and explosion accidents. The June 1 blast killed five workers and injured two others.

A special inspection is triggered when a serious industrial accident kills two or more workers simultaneously at a single workplace.

The ministry deployed a team of 43 — 21 labor inspectors and 22 officials from the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency — to conduct an intensive review of safety management across all production processes at the site.

Inspectors will focus on the handling and storage of flammable and combustible materials, safety measures for equipment handling hazardous substances, the adequacy of explosion-proof facilities and local exhaust ventilation systems, whether safety training has been carried out, and compliance with process safety management requirements. They will also interview workers and worker representatives on-site to identify underlying safety vulnerabilities.

The ministry said it would order immediate on-site corrections for any violations requiring urgent action, and would impose fines or pursue criminal charges for breaches of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

In addition, the ministry formed a joint inspection team with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the National Fire Agency, the Agency for Defense Development and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency to examine how military explosives are managed at the plant. The government is currently conducting joint safety inspections at 42 facilities nationwide that handle military explosives.

Ma Seong-gyun, head of the Daejeon Regional Employment and Labor Office, said the inspection would "thoroughly verify safety management conditions across all workplaces to raise awareness of industrial accident prevention and ensure similar accidents are not repeated." He added that employers "must eliminate fire and explosion hazards in advance and build a safety management system that puts workers' lives and safety first through on-site risk assessments."


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