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Photo = Yonhap news |
[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Sangjin] The Ministry of Employment and Labor has launched an investigation into a radiation exposure incident at Samsung Electronics' Giheung plant, which occurred in May, under the Serious Accident Punishment Act (SAP Law).
A Ministry official stated on the 24th, "We received a notification of the accident from the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service on the 14th and began the investigation the following day."
In May, two workers were exposed to radiation while servicing a semiconductor wafer device at Samsung Electronics' Giheung plant. The cause of the accident was determined to be a malfunction of the radiation shielding device, known as the "interlock," which failed to protect the workers from radiation exposure.
Under the Serious Accident Punishment Act, an accident is classified as a "serious accident" if it meets the following criteria: one or more fatalities, two or more workers requiring more than six months of treatment from the same accident, three or more workers suffering from occupational diseases (such as acute poisoning) within a year, ten or more workers requiring more than two months of treatment from the same accident, or ten or more workers suffering from a disease requiring more than three months of treatment.
The Ministry has confirmed that the two workers who were exposed to radiation both require more than six months of treatment, qualifying the incident as a serious accident.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim SangJin(letyou@alphabiz.co.kr)