About 30 labor inspectors and officers deployed; computers and other materials seized

Worker injured Aug. 23; investigators to examine whether employer met safety obligations

A Coupang Inc delivery logistics center in central Seoul. [Herald DB]
A Coupang Inc delivery logistics center in central Seoul. [Herald DB]

The Ministry of Employment and Labor and police have launched a joint search-and-seizure operation at a Coupang Inc logistics center in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, following a worker entrapment accident at the facility.

The Seongnam branch of the Gyeonggi Regional Employment and Labor Office and the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency announced Wednesday that they were conducting a search and seizure at the Coupang Fulfillment Gyeonggi Gwangju 3 Center in connection with a worker injury that occurred Aug. 23.

About 30 labor inspectors and police officers were deployed for the operation. Investigators plan to seize computers and other materials belonging to relevant personnel to examine the circumstances of the accident and determine whether the employer fulfilled its legal safety obligations.

The accident occurred when a worker became trapped during an operation involving a stand-up forklift. The ministry and police said they would focus their investigation on whether adequate safety measures had been in place to prevent entrapment during that type of work.

The Seongnam branch said it recognizes the gravity of accidents that recur at logistics sites and pledged to rigorously investigate any violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

The ministry had previously announced a policy of actively pursuing coercive investigative measures — including search and seizure and detention — in cases involving fatal accidents or repeated incidents of the same type resulting from failure to observe minimum safety standards.


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