Ogina no longer plays basketball. No, you can’t. I lost both arms in my 7th year working in Korea. This is because he suffered a burn injury at an industrial site. For the next 6 years, he endured non-stop pain and underwent repeated treatment and rehabilitation. The CEO of the company and the on-site team leader who caused Ogina to lose her arm have not yet offered a proper apology or paid compensation for damages. Meanwhile, Ogina’s life wanders between insufficient compensation for industrial accidents and unstable residential status.
December 22, 2019, one month since I started working at this company. Ogina was erecting solar panels on the roof of a factory in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do that day. At this time, he received instructions from the CEO of S and the field team leader to connect the wires of the solar power generation facility to the utility pole. To carry out this task, the flow of electricity from the pole must be blocked. It is KEPCO’s job to temporarily block the flow of electricity. Those requesting power cut off will have to pay around 500,000 won.
‘Turn off the electric cutoff switch’ without safety equipment
However, the CEO of S and the field team leader did not spend this 500,000 won. The field team leader told me to wrap insulation tape around a long pole and turn off the electric cutoff switch on the pole transformer.
Safety equipment was not provided and there were no safety guards. Like many industrial accidents, the accident occurred while trying to save costs with only the pursuit of profit in mind. Moreover, this was Ogina’s first time doing this work. “I didn’t know anything about electricity.”
Ogina rode a ladder truck up to a telephone pole and lifted a stick to lower the switch. I held the stick with both hands because I felt like I didn’t have enough strength with one hand. At that moment, Ogina felt her entire body paralyzed. A high voltage current of 22,900V flowed through his body. Despite the intense shock, Ogina remained conscious. It might have been better to lose consciousness. Because I felt the pain. “I couldn’t move because I couldn’t feel my arms, legs, or body.”
However, the on-site team leader told the paramedics that the patient had to be transported by helicopter.
“Can’t we go by ambulance?”
said only absurd things. He was eventually taken to Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital in Seoul by helicopter and called Yona ahead of major surgery. Yona received a phone call from home with her 5-month-old daughter. I heard from the team leader that Ogina was injured, but I had no idea it was that serious. I also headed straight to Seoul. After finishing the phone call, Ogina became even more desperate to see her family. It seemed like it would be a life-or-death operation. “I was worried about me and the baby. I also thought about my mother, whom I hadn’t seen for seven years.”
What Ogina faced after escaping from the brink of death was reality. After the accident, I was hospitalized or received hospital treatment for about two years. Since then, I have been receiving outpatient treatment between Chungcheong Province and Seoul at least once a week. The amount he paid out of pocket for six years of treatment was tens of millions of won.
However, the court acknowledged the responsibility of Company S and the field team leader, but ruled that only 210 million won, which is less than half of the claim, should be compensated. The problem is that in this ruling, the court calculated alimony on the assumption that Ogina would soon leave the country and live in Mongolia.
The nursing expenses and alimony to be paid to Ogina were calculated at 20,000 won per day (based on 8 hours), which is the average wage in Mongolia.
https://v.daum.net/v/20251117152134354
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