SUBIC, Zambales – A worker was killed on Wednesday when his head was accidentally crushed by a barrier inside the Hanjin shipyard here, a worker’s group said.
The fatality was identified only as “Maynard” and was working as a sandblaster at the time of the accident, said lawyer Virgie Suarez, counsel of the Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Hanjin (Samahan).
Citing initial reports from Hanjin workers, Suarez said a fellow worker inadvertently pressed the button that activated an automatic sliding barrier which crushed Maynard’s head.
Suarez said the accident happened at Wednesday dawn in the blasting section of one of the shipyard’s warehouses.
Records from Samahan indicate that Maynard was the 38th recorded work-related death inside the Korean shipbuilding firm since it started operations in 2008.
Suarez said the Department of Labor and Employment should require Hanjin to build its own hospital inside its shipyard.
“They can build a big ship as high as 5-floor building so they can easily build a hospital building to ensure occupational safety and health of workers,” Suarez said in a text message. JE
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