CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines -- A Korean foreman died at the shipyard of the Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines in Subic, Zambales, after he was hit and run over by a forklift operated by a Filipino worker on Sunday.Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority administrator Armand Arreza confirmed the 12:45 a.m. accident, the second since the death of worker Raldon del Rosario, 19, on Friday.Arreza identified the latest fatality as Choi Dong Baek, who died at the San Marcelino District Hospital in San Marcelino, Zambales, at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Arreza said the forklift driver, Menti Dacanay, has been held at the site.He said Dacanay began his shift at the shipyard's Assembly Shop C at 8 p.m. Saturday.Work at the shipyard has been on a 24-hour basis. The Korean shipbuilding firm has finished four of the 13 ships it is scheduled to build until 2013. Arreza said Baek's death "appeared accidental."At the shop, forklifts are used to move metal plates and ship components, he said.Baek’s is the first known accidental death among Hanjin’s Korean employees. His death brought to 19 the number of work- and traffic-related accidents at the shipyard since 2006, according to the company's tally.Del Rosario died from massive head injury after an 800-kg metal door installed at Assembly Shop 3 fell on him, hitting his head.
Korean foreman latest Hanjin work site fatality.
Arreza said the forklift driver, Menti Dacanay, has been held at the site.He said Dacanay began his shift at the shipyard's Assembly Shop C at 8 p.m. Saturday.Work at the shipyard has been on a 24-hour basis. The Korean shipbuilding firm has finished four of the 13 ships it is scheduled to build until 2013. Arreza said Baek's death "appeared accidental."At the shop, forklifts are used to move metal plates and ship components, he said.Baek’s is the first known accidental death among Hanjin’s Korean employees. His death brought to 19 the number of work- and traffic-related accidents at the shipyard since 2006, according to the company's tally.Del Rosario died from massive head injury after an 800-kg metal door installed at Assembly Shop 3 fell on him, hitting his head.
Korean foreman latest Hanjin work site fatality.
SUBIC BAY FREE PORT—A 51-year old Korean on Sunday became the latest fatality in the string of accidents that has hounded the shipbuilding facility of Hanjin Heavy Industries Co.-Philippines (HHIC-Phil) since the $1.7-billion shipyard began operations in 2006 at the Redondo Peninsula here.
Choi Dong Baek, who was employed as a foreman by Greenbeach Power Corp., a subcontractor of HHIC-Phil, died in a hospital in San Marcelino, Zambales, at about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday after a forklift ran over him at the Hanjin facility’s Assembly Shop C.
Choi’s death came just two days after another Filipino worker, 19-year-old Raldon del Rosario, perished at the shipbuilding site when an 800-kilogram curtain door assembly toppled while being tested by Great Steel Construction, another subcontractor.
SBMA investigators, who interviewed witnesses at Sunday’s accident site, reported that the incident happened at about 1:50 a.m., as workers were cleaning up after a basketball game during the midnight break.
Choi reportedly picked up the ball and was kicking it about like a soccer ball, when it rolled onto the path of the moving forklift.
Menti Dacanay, a Filipino rigger working for free port I-Tech Corp., also a subcontractor, was driving the forklift to replace the movable basketball stand.
Choi reportedly tried to retrieve the ball, but he was hit by the maneuvering forklift, which subsequently dragged and ran over the victim.
Investigators noted that Dacanay was not licensed to drive the forklift, while Pyeong Jong Yu, deputy managing director of HHIC-Phil, said Dacanay used the equipment “without getting any instruction from either Korean or Filipino foremen.”
“We are still trying to verify how he got the key of the unit, since the key should have been kept in the toolbox container,” Yu said in an accident report sent to the SBMA.
Choi became the 19th fatality at the Hanjin shipyard, where accidents¬—15 of them construction-related—had so far claimed the lives of 18 Filipino workers since 2006.
Choi Dong Baek, who was employed as a foreman by Greenbeach Power Corp., a subcontractor of HHIC-Phil, died in a hospital in San Marcelino, Zambales, at about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday after a forklift ran over him at the Hanjin facility’s Assembly Shop C.
Choi’s death came just two days after another Filipino worker, 19-year-old Raldon del Rosario, perished at the shipbuilding site when an 800-kilogram curtain door assembly toppled while being tested by Great Steel Construction, another subcontractor.
SBMA investigators, who interviewed witnesses at Sunday’s accident site, reported that the incident happened at about 1:50 a.m., as workers were cleaning up after a basketball game during the midnight break.
Choi reportedly picked up the ball and was kicking it about like a soccer ball, when it rolled onto the path of the moving forklift.
Menti Dacanay, a Filipino rigger working for free port I-Tech Corp., also a subcontractor, was driving the forklift to replace the movable basketball stand.
Choi reportedly tried to retrieve the ball, but he was hit by the maneuvering forklift, which subsequently dragged and ran over the victim.
Investigators noted that Dacanay was not licensed to drive the forklift, while Pyeong Jong Yu, deputy managing director of HHIC-Phil, said Dacanay used the equipment “without getting any instruction from either Korean or Filipino foremen.”
“We are still trying to verify how he got the key of the unit, since the key should have been kept in the toolbox container,” Yu said in an accident report sent to the SBMA.
Choi became the 19th fatality at the Hanjin shipyard, where accidents¬—15 of them construction-related—had so far claimed the lives of 18 Filipino workers since 2006.
Written by Henry Empeño / Correspondent
