Gimpo company head referred to prosecutors after shaking forklift; worker fell 3.2m
In short
Gimpo Police Station said on October 9 it had referred the head of a food ingredients company in Gimpo, a person in their 50s identified as A, to prosecutors on a charge of special injury. A is accused of shaking a forklift on June 9 while employee B, in their 40s, was working on it, causing B to fall about 3.2 metres and briefly lose consciousness. Labour authorities have also recently referred A to prosecutors for violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
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Gimpo Police Station in Gyeonggi Province said on October 9 that it had booked the head of a food ingredients company in Gimpo without detention on a charge of special injury and referred the case to the Bucheon branch of the Incheon District Public Prosecution Office. The company head, in their 50s, was identified only as A. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
A is accused of shaking a forklift on June 9 at the company while employee B, in their 40s, was working on it, causing B to fall and be injured. Police found that B had been working on the forklift's forks to load goods onto a high shelf, fell about 3.2 metres and briefly lost consciousness. Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that the incident took place in Tongjin-eup, Gimpo, and that A is accused of shaking the forklift deliberately. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
B filed a complaint against A with police. According to Yonhap and Hankook Ilbo, B said they had climbed onto the forklift to put goods on a high shelf and had told A not to shake it because of a fear of heights, but A kept shaking it. Kyunghyang Shinmun and Hankook Ilbo reported B as saying A shook the forklift as a prank. B later quit the job because of the injuries and their aftereffects, according to three outlets. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Police applied the special injury charge because they concluded that A used the forklift, a dangerous object, to make B fall and be injured, Kyunghyang Shinmun reported. A police official told the newspaper that police judged A to have acted intentionally based mainly on objective evidence, but could not disclose details of the investigation such as whether A admits the charges. [ 2 ]
Labour authorities have also recently referred A to prosecutors for violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Kyunghyang Shinmun identified the agency as the Bucheon branch of the Central Regional Employment and Labor Office. Newsis and Hankook Ilbo ran images captured from CCTV footage of the incident that had been posted in an online community. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Why it matters
Police applied a special injury charge on the grounds that the forklift was used as a dangerous object, and labour authorities have opened a separate case under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. According to three outlets, the employee later quit the job because of the injuries and their aftereffects.
Key facts
- Gimpo Police Station booked the company head, A, without detention on a special injury charge and referred the case to the Bucheon branch of the Incheon District Public Prosecution Office. [ 1 , 2 , 4 ]
- The incident took place on June 9 at a food ingredients company in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Employee B, in their 40s, fell about 3.2 metres from the forklift. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- B was working on the forklift's forks to load goods onto a high shelf and briefly lost consciousness after the fall. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- B later quit the job because of the injuries and their aftereffects. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Labour authorities have also recently referred A to prosecutors for violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Police referred the food ingredients company head, A, to the Bucheon branch of the Incheon District Public Prosecution Office on a special injury charge. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- A is accused of shaking a forklift on June 9 while employee B was working on it, causing B to fall about 3.2 metres and be injured. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- B briefly lost consciousness after the fall. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- B quit the job because of the aftereffects of the incident. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Labour authorities separately referred A to prosecutors for violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Still unclear
- Whether A admits the charges. A police official told Kyunghyang Shinmun that details such as whether A admits the charges could not be disclosed, and none of the reports gives A's account.
- Whether A shook the forklift as a prank. This comes from B's complaint as reported by Kyunghyang Shinmun and Hankook Ilbo; A's response is not reported.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Yonhap reports that Gimpo police have referred the company head to prosecutors on a special injury charge. [ 1 ]
- Kyunghyang Shinmun reports the case, including the police reasoning for the charge and that B quit the job. [ 2 ]
- Newsis reports the referral, with an image from CCTV footage of the incident. [ 3 ]
- Hankook Ilbo reports the referral and B's account of asking A to stop shaking the forklift. [ 4 ]