The employees were hospitalized for ‘abnormal’ radiation symptoms in their hands.
Share this story
Samsung is under investigation after two employees were hospitalized following exposure to X-rays on May 27th, South Korea’sNuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) announced. The exposure took place at Samsung’s Giheung chip plant, about 25 miles south of Seoul, writes CNBC.
The two employees were exposed while using a machine that blasts materials with X-rays in order to analyze them. Both showed “abnormal symptoms” due to radiation exposure on their fingers, the NSSC writes in its release. The agency says their blood tests came back normal, but it plans to conduct follow-up testing. Use of the machine has apparently been suspended, and the agency says it plans to figure out exactly how much radiation they were exposed to.
Samsung said the employees “experienced accidental exposures to X-rays on their hands,” in a statement to CNBC. It further told the outlet that it’s supporting the employees’ treatment and is cooperating with authorities. Meanwhile, the NSSC says it will take further measures if it finds that Samsung has violated any safety laws.
It’s not the first time Samsung has been implicated in its employees’ radiation exposure. The South Korean government linked the cancer that took the life of one of the company’s former employees in 2012 with radiation and chemical exposure during her time at one of its factories. The company apologized to workers who’d developed cancer in its factories and set up a fund to compensate them, as well as families of deceased former employees, in 2015.
