Another shipyard worker dies

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – A construction worker at the shipyard of Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp.-Philippines (HHIC-Phil) here died and another suffered injuries yesterday after an 800-kilogram roll-up canvass door fell on them as they were passing by.

Raldon del Rosario, 19, a worker of Redondo I Tech Construction, died on the spot, HHIC-Phil said in an accident report to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). Seventeen other workers have died in accidents at the shipyard.

Del Rosario’s fellow worker, Camalao Bochie, 24, suffered leg injuries.

SBMA administrator and chief executive officer Armand Arreza said an investigating team was determining what caused the fatal incident, even as construction work at the Assembly Shop A was suspended.

Workers of Great Steel Con, a Hanjin subcontractor, were testing the manual canvass door at around 8:30 a.m. when the accident happened, Arreza said.

An initial SBMA report said the victims were pinned down by the metal base of the newly installed manual canvass door.

Results of the full investigation are expected within two days, Arreza said.

Pyeong Jong Yu, deputy managing director of HHIC-Phil, said the incident “was not in any way related to the shipbuilding operations.”

Yu said in an accident report to Arreza that their company has also launched a “full-scale investigation to ascertain whether the unfortunate event was the result of an industrial mishap, unavoidable human error or simply the negligence of Great Steel during the construction work.”

“If investigation reveals that the accident was caused by laxity in the observance of rules and regulations on occupational safety, the immediate superiors and authorities concerned with the implementation of safety policies will be made answerable, regardless of nationality,” Yu promised Arreza.

“If negligence on the part of Great Steel is the proximate cause, HHIC shall take all necessary steps to hold the contractor liable in every aspect,” he added.

Last year, the SBMA ordered Hanjin to stop work in one of its assembly shops after an eight-ton girder assembly being lifted by a crane fatally struck a worker.      – With Ric Sapnu