Photo : YONHAP News
The labor ministry says lithium battery maker Aricell illegally put in untrained workers dispatched from an unregistered staffing agency to its factory where 23 people died in a deadly fire in June.
In a joint briefing with the police on Friday, the ministry’s Gyeonggi provincial branch disclosed the findings of a two-month investigation.
According to the labor ministry, Aricell hired 53 workers from an unauthorized staffing agency since May and put them into its main manufacturing process without sufficient safety training.
The police on Friday sought pretrial detention warrants for four officials at Aricell on charges related to the deadly fire, including the company’s CEO Park Soon-kwan.
The four officials face charges of involuntary manslaughter as well as violations of the Occupation Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.