Farmer burned during public equipment training

A farmer preparing processed agricultural products was burned while learning how to use equipment at a public institution in Chungbuk, KBS reported.

Im Jae-yong, who grows wild-simulated ginseng, began developing processed products using the crop last August with support from Chungbuk Technopark's Herbal and Natural Products Center. The accident occurred while he was learning how to use a high-pressure steam sterilizer.

When the equipment door would not open, a researcher said it was not a major problem and forced it open. The machine opened as if it had exploded, hot water above 80 degrees poured out, and Im suffered deep second-degree burns on both feet.

Im said, 'The researcher said the machine was hot and a little strange, but that it could still be opened by force and the work could continue. While it was being forced open, high-temperature sterilized water shot forward and poured below my knees.'

Im, who had to receive inpatient treatment for about one month, said he had to give up a support project for which he had been selected because of the accident. His plans for wild-simulated ginseng cultivation, prototype development and participation in an expo were disrupted, and he was left with twenty-seven million won in hospital bills.

Im said, 'The center's role was to teach how to operate shared equipment safely, but it did not do that and only avoided responsibility.'

The center raised the possibility of an equipment defect and said there was no problem with its safety management or accident response. A center official said, 'From the outside, we could not detect any sign that anything was wrong with the equipment. We check the required safety measures while carrying out the work.'

With the dispute over the accident's cause and compensation continuing for more than ten months, police sent the researcher who operated the machine to prosecutors on a charge of causing injury through occupational negligence.