Lee orders thorough probe into injection administration and concealment of health screening results; similar workplaces to be inspected

Ministry of Employment and Labor refers DN Automotive to police; 68 violations of Occupational Safety and Health Act found

President Lee Jae Myung [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung has condemned allegations that workers at an auto parts factory were repeatedly given heavy-metal chelation injections disguised as vitamin shots, calling the practice "a grave human rights violation that cannot be tolerated under any circumstances." The Ministry of Employment and Labor has referred DN Automotive to police on charges of obstruction of business.

Cheong Wa Dae Chief Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said Monday that Lee issued the directive after receiving a briefing from the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the steps it had taken and its plans going forward in response to media reports on the matter.

According to Kang, Lee sharply criticized the factory for resorting to underhanded tactics to pass workplace environment assessments even though lead levels more than five times the permissible limit had been detected during the production process.

Lee said it was "a grave human rights violation that cannot be tolerated under any circumstances" for a company — which has a duty to protect the lives and health of its workers — to administer injections while concealing the risk of side effects and to cover up workers' exposure to hazardous substances.

Lee ordered the ministry and investigative authorities to thoroughly investigate the extent of hazardous substance exposure at the workplace, the circumstances under which the injections were administered, and whether health screening results had been concealed, and to take strict legal action if any violations were found. He also called on them to closely examine whether similar cases undermining the occupational safety and health system were occurring at other workplaces, and to spare no effort in protecting workers' health and human rights.

Earlier Monday, the ministry announced it had conducted a safety and health inspection and a detailed workplace environment assessment at DN Automotive's Ulsan factory, detecting 68 violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and referring the case for indictment. The company was fined 46.2 million won ($34,500).

The probe began after a tip-off about the alleged conduct was received in late January. The allegation is that the company, seeking to prevent workers' lead levels from registering as elevated during mandatory health screenings, described chelation injections — which accelerate the excretion of heavy metals from the body — as vitamin shots and administered them on a regular basis.

The ministry determined that administering the chelation injections immediately before the mandatory health screenings constituted obstruction of the government's health protection measures, and referred the company to police on charges of obstruction of business. The Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency is currently handling the investigation.

A suspension order was issued for lead-exposure processes from April 21 to May 7. The ministry has also launched a planned inspection of 14 other battery manufacturing workplaces of the same type.

Follow-up investigations into the health impact on workers and improvements to the working environment are also under way. On Thursday, the ministry launched the "DN Automotive Lead Exposure Investigation and Working Environment Improvement Committee," comprising nine experts recommended by labor, management and government. The committee will operate through three subcommittees covering health, working environment and epidemiological investigation.

The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency held an epidemiological investigation review committee on Sept. 18 and decided to conduct a group epidemiological study covering all current and former DN Automotive workers, including retirees. The investigation aims to determine the impact of lead exposure on workers' health.


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