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The government will not terminate the contract of
Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp. Philippines (HHIC) even after three
workers died in a recent accident at the country’s largest
shipbuilding facility in Subic Bay Freeport.
“The Palace doesn’t support
suspending Hanjin’s operations because of the accident. I called
Chairman Armand Arreza and he said the accident didn’t involve
Hanjin but its supplier. Hanjin has no liability,” Executive
Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.
A supplier of Hanjin and not
Hanjin itself undertook the activity in the shipyard, he said.
“The workers were unloading a
beam which is part of 20 ton crane when the crane snapped from its
trestle. Its supplier of course has the liability and not Hanjin
that’s why there’s no reason for their contract to be
terminated,” he said.
Investigators of the SBMA’s
ecology center said the two, who worked as sling men for a
subcontractor at the shipbuilding facility of Hanjin were removing
the shackles from the crane when it snapped from its trestle and
pinned them down.
At least two other workers, whom
the SBMA did not identify, were hurt and taken to a local hospital.
Ameth dela Llana-Coval, head of
the SBMA Ecology Department, said their preliminary investigation
showed that before the accident, a worker told a colleague that the
trestles on which the collapsed part of the crane rested “were not
properly on the level.”
This latest accident brings to
five the total number of work-related deaths at the South
Korean-owned facility over the last three months.
On January 18, an explosion
killed two welders and injured three others. The SBMA found Hanjin
guilty of violating at least seven safety standards and ordered the
company to comply with international safety standards.
--Angelo S. Samonte
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