In January of this year, since the Act on Punishment of Serious Accidents came into force, four workers have lost their lives in KORAIL's workplace alone.
① At 10:50 p.m. on March 14, a 56-year-old KORAIL employee who worked at a Daejeon vehicle office died after being caught between the wheels and rails of the train.
At the time of the accident, Mr. Kim was inspecting the underside of the train.
The train inspection was almost complete, and the other staff withdrew, leaving only Mr. Kim to perform the final inspection.
After that, Kim was caught between the train and the rail and was found dead next to the track.
② At 4:24 pm on July 14, a KORAIL employee in his 50s who was working at the platform of Jungnang Station in Seoul was hit by a train and died.
Mr. A, who was in charge of facility management, was asked to inspect the drainage ditch as it may be flooded due to heavy rain and hastily inspected the drainage system.
After finishing the work, Mr. A, while moving off the track, was hit by a train coming from the opposite side and died.
③ At 10:13 am on September 30, 56-year-old KORAIL employee B, who was working on a screen door at Jeongbalsan Station in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, bumped into a train.
At that time, Mr. B was checking the monitor inside the screen door to replace the screen door communication equipment.
At this time, the Line 3 train entered the platform, and Mr. B was hit by the train.
He was taken to hospital immediately for treatment, but eventually died two weeks after the accident.
④ At 8:37 pm on November 5, at Obong Station in Uiwang, Gyeonggi, 33-year-old KORAIL employee Jang Mo was hit and killed by a freight train.
Jang was a station attendant in charge of transportation at Obong Station.
At the time of the accident, Jang was working at night to connect and disconnect freight trains.
Two trains on different tracks were being brought together on the same track, but the track switch didn't work properly and the freight train rushed towards Mr. Jang.
Jang was hit by a train and died at the scene.
Enlarging an image
KORAIL has the largest number of serious accidents this year.
The year isn't over yet, and there have already been four deaths.
Last year, there was one fatal accident with KORAIL.
That's a fourfold increase in one year.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor charged Na Hee-seung, president of Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), for violating the Act on the Punishment of Serious Accidents for the first time among the heads of public institutions.
On the 3rd, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong held a 'Railway Safety Emergency Measures Meeting' to take care of railway safety.
Na Hee-seung, president of Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), who attended the meeting, said, 'We will do our best to prevent serious disasters.'
"To prevent serious accidents from occurring, we will do our best to reinforce and invest in double or triple safety facilities, and operate an emergency safety task force (TF) headed by the head of the safety general manager directly under the president's direction to conduct special inspections and measures." .
This is not the first time President Na has promised 'safety'.
At the inauguration ceremony last year, he said, 'I will build a railroad that puts safety first.'
In February of this year, in preparation for the enforcement of the Act on the Punishment of Serious Disasters, it announced that it would increase the budget by about 1 trillion won to replace old trains with new ones.
In a state audit last month, it was also said that 'we are putting all our energy into building a preemptive response system for railway accidents and disasters'.
Enlarging an image
I put all my energy into it, but why did four workers have to lose their lives while working?
The composition of the emergency safety countermeasures task force and budget increase are all insignificant.
A KORAIL employee described Obong Station, where the accident occurred, as 'a place where people do not know where people die'.
He added that it is one of the poorest railway bases in the country.
TF composition and budget increase are important, but KORAIL's awareness of 'to create a safe workplace' is a priority.
When a major disaster occurs, KORAIL publishes press releases saying 'We will thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident' and 'We will prepare measures to prevent recurrence'.
'Identification of the cause' and 'prevention of recurrence' should not be common words.
Investigation of the cause of the previous major disaster is still in progress.
It has already been 8 months since the first accident occurred.
It is futile to say that we are going to prevent the same accident from happening.
Most of the fatal accidents this year were 'train crashes'.
In order not to lose another KORAIL worker, safety measures that reflect the voices of on-site workers are required.
KORAIL is an affiliated organization of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport cannot be freed from its management and supervision responsibilities.
After the fourth fatal accident, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it would conduct a special audit on KORAIL.
As affiliated organizations have a reputation for being the workplace with the highest number of serious accidents, through this audit, it is necessary to tear down KORAIL's outdated safety awareness and create a workplace that prioritizes worker safety.
▶ [Exclusive] "