Work safety issues beset Korean firm even before blast

Work safety issues had hounded Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Ltd. even before the Jan. 18 explosion at its shipyard in Subic, Zambales, that killed two workers and injured three others, the Inquirer learned.

By Tonette Orejas - Inquirer Central Luzon Desk

A preliminary report released by the Manggagawa para sa Kalayaan ng Bayan (Makabayan) cited “poor implementation of safety rules and regulations.”

For one, it said that Hanjin does not issue safety permits to subcontractors before these are allowed to build a part of a ship.

Hanjin general manager, Pyeong Jong Yu, insisted that the shipyard is a “safe workplace.”

Manny Geraldino, president of the Subic Shipyard Workers Union and Shipbuilders and Construction Workers Association, said “there’s a mixed use for the work area. In the blast incident, the workers on the upper level were doing the grinding while those at the lower level were applying oil near the propeller and the acetylene [tanks].”

That information came from co-workers of the victims, said Geraldino, who is also chair of the Makabayan in Olongapo City and Subic.

Worker's accounts

The Makabayan report, which gathered the accounts of two foremen of subcontractors and workers in Hanjin’s own pre-outfitting, power tooling, hull outfitting and major assembly departments, said employees were given a general orientation of the shipyard.

“No drydock orientation is given in case of fire,” the report said.

There is also “no systematic drydock fired rail, specifically alarm system, exit map and lights,” it said. Housekeeping is poor, it noted, adding that hoses and cables were “entangled.”

According to the report, Hanjin has not hired company doctors although Philippine labor laws require firms to assign one for every 300 workers.

Hanjin started doing business in 2006 in Subic town’s Redondo Bay, an area within the jurisdiction of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). It has invested $1.6 billion, making it the country’s single biggest foreign direct investment that year.

Only 3 nurses

“Hanjin has 8,000 workers now and it has only provided three nurses,” the report said. While there are nurses, they do not deal with fever and headaches “even if those are caused by the hot temperature in the workplace.”

“Nurses address only wounds, eye-related problems and sprains,” it said.

Makabayan said workers had reported having no group life insurance to cover accidents and deaths. In those cases, they can only get benefits from the state-owned Social Security System, it said.

SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza said “there are safety concerns that we continue to work with Hanjin in addressing.” He did not disclose what those are, but said a report will be released in time.

“As we clearly indicated in our preliminary incident report to the SBMA, the area was inspected by a safety team and nothing unsafe factors [were] found or detected prior to the commencement of work,” Pyeong told the Inquirer.

“On the report that no safety officer was around while the work was going on, I want you to consider the size of the shipyard, number of working places inside the ship that is being built,” he said.

“No shipbuilders in the world are designating individual safety officer to every working place. Instead, prior inspection is to be done especially when the working place is deemed a hazardous area.”

Pyeong said: “Assuming the hazardous materials were in existence in the area of incident, it should have been found and cleared by our safety team. Moreover, those who alleged that there were hazardous materials should have immediately reported that to the safety team, leader or supervisor.”