▲ Panoramic view of Dongducheon Police Station. Provided by Dongducheon Police Station Regarding the incident in which a female worker in her 30s suffered brain death after drinking a toxic substance contained in a paper cup at a mid-sized company in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, the police, who completed the investigation, will forward the company officials deemed responsible to the prosecution.
Dongducheon Police Station announced on the 15th that it would transfer three people, including co-worker A, the company’s factory manager B, and safety manager C, without detention on the 16th on charges of occupational negligence.
In addition, the company will be charged with violating the Chemical Substances Control Act and handed over to the prosecution for reasons such as negligence in management.
After the incident occurred, the police intensively investigated those involved to determine whether there was intentionality or negligence.
As a result of eyewitness statements or CCTV footage, no intention to harm the victim, a female worker in her 30s, was found.
During the police investigation, company officials reportedly stated that “there was no intention” as to how the victim came to drink the toxic substance.
However, it was revealed that the company had neglected its safety management duties, such as not labeling toxic substances or putting them in certain containers, and the police ended up charging them with professional negligence causing death.
It was decided to apply the Chemical Substances Control Act to the company in question according to the ‘double punishment rule’, which punishes corporations other than the perpetrator when an illegal act occurs.
A police official explained, “According to the criminal law, there are no provisions punishing corporations for professional negligence,” and added, “In order to hold corporations accountable, we completed the investigation by adding charges of violating the Chemical Substances Control Act.”
While examining materials related to optical lenses in the examination room on June 28th at around 4pm, Mr. D found a paper cup on his desk and drank it without suspicion, thinking it was water.
However, what was contained in the paper cup was a colorless, toxic solution containing hydrofluoric acid that a coworker, Mr. A, had poured for testing, and was mainly used as a cleaning agent.
Mr. D, who drank the solution, was taken to the hospital in a state of cardiac arrest and had to be placed on an artificial heart-lung machine (ECMO) and receive dialysis treatment to remove the toxic solution from his body.
Mr. D’s pulse and breathing returned to normal, but 110 days after the incident, he is still brain dead and has not regained consciousness.
Reporter Lim Tae-hwan
2023-10-15 02:24:40
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