Hanwha Aerospace Plant Cited for 46 Explosion, Fire Violations

Inspectors found 46 violations of safety and health rules related to explosions and fires at Hanwha Aerospace's Daejeon plant, where an explosion in June killed five workers. Three explosions at Hanwha Aerospace have killed 13 workers in total.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor said on the 1st that it identified 473 legal violations during an inspection of the Daejeon plant conducted from June 29 to Sept. 18. The ministry plans to immediately refer 189 of the most serious cases for prosecution and impose fines totaling 505.1 million won ($360,000) for the remaining 284 cases.

Violations of safety and health rules totaled 184. Of those, 46 involved explosions and fires and 45 involved hazardous substances and leaks, with the two categories accounting for about half of all rule violations. Representative cases included the use of electrical and mechanical equipment without explosion-proof certification in areas at risk of dust explosions, and the failure to install flame arrester screens on a diesel tank for an emergency generator to prevent the ignition of fuel vapor. Inspectors also cited the failure to mark the maximum allowable pressure on pressure vessels and the use of sandwich panels, rather than non-combustible materials, in buildings housing chemical equipment.

It has not yet been determined whether the violations directly caused the June explosion. An investigation into the cause by relevant authorities is under way, and the 46 explosion- and fire-related violations were found in buildings other than the site of the accident.

The ministry also noted that safety and health management staff had not been added despite a recent increase in production and new hiring. The Daejeon plant had only four safety staff at the time of the inspection, managing workplace safety with the minimum number of personnel required by law.

Hanwha Aerospace also suffered explosions in 2018, which killed five workers, and in 2019, which killed three. "Even though defense contractors are required to maintain a high level of safety management because of the nature of their work, we confirmed violations of basic safety measures," Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said. "The repetition of the same type of fire and explosion accidents is not a problem that can be taken lightly." He added that the company "must use the results of this inspection to review overall risk factors and prepare improvement measures."