Scrap-yard owner could face jail if rules violated

[Lite Beer]

Scrap-yard owner could face jail if rules violated
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The owner of a scrap-metal shop which was ripped apart by a huge explosion that killed eight workers earlier this month will be penalised if found to be in violation of occupational safety regulations.

She could be subject to up to a year in jail and/or a maximum fine of Bt100,000, the Labour Protection and Welfare Department said yesterday.

Uemphorn Suebniam, the owner of Ban Recycle shop, will soon be summoned for questioning by the department, deputy director-general Suwit Sumala said.

However, he did not say if evidence the agency was compiling was against or in support of the owner.

The Employment Department said yesterday that three of the people killed in the explosion were Cambodian, including a child, and were entitled to protection under Thai labour law - and their families to compensation stemming from their deaths at work.

Director-general Prawit Khiangphol said insurance would be soon required of Thai employers that hire migrant workers.

-- The Nation 2014-04-12

[wonder6281]

First I have heard of any OH&S regulations in Thailand. Watching the way people work safety standards just doesnt exist unless they are being ignored like road rules!

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[Cylon]

They make it up as they go along, To say there are Health and safety regulations in Thailand is a joke.

[NongKhaiKid]

First I have heard of any OH&S regulations in Thailand. Watching the way people work safety standards just doesnt exist unless they are being ignored like road rules!

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Yesterday i watched some telephone workers fixing overhead wiring in the soi outside my house.

Needless to say at one junction there is the usual birds nest of wires and it was against this the workers placed their ladder for support.

They obviously had more believe it its strength than I would.

[ChrisY1]

"violation of occupational safety regulations."

Would there be any company in Thailand that does comply with safety?

And a possible maximum fine of 100K could apply.......for 8 people being blown apart?? Crazy place sometimes!

Edited April 12, 2014 by ChrisY1

[slapout]

If the evidense being gathered by the Labor protection and Welfare department is to support the owner/workplace safety, maybe they should review their job description. Another, ''In the future we will reqire insurance by the employer'', (loop hole) in a system that is written/designed to protect the employer.

[Ricardo]

Perhaps the government might introduce a new safety-rule for suspected WW2-bombs, that they should be tested by banging the pointy-end with a shovel a few times, before cutting into them ?

[monkey4u]

The owner of the shop that bought the bomb was not very smart.

Why sell as scrap metal

Better to sell to the terrorists in the south

I'm sure they would have had a few orgasms just thinking of the chaos it would have caused

[Halion]

Stories like this only serve to highlight the idiocy that is rampant throughout this society and culture.

Some workers find a 500 pound Ariel bomb and no mater how rusted that is exactly what it would look like and they lift it ,put in on a vehicle and transport it through the city putting many lives at risk and then sell it to a scrap dealer telling him that it is the hammer of a pile driver. The scrap dealer then instructs one of his immigrant workers to cut it with a blow torch while he secures a position of relative safety. The rest is history. Now we hear that the scrap dealer "may"face prosecution. Throw the bloody book at all involved including the construction site management that permitted this to be removed from site. Everyone involved in this fiasco is guilty of negligent homicide. This dam Mia Pen Rai attitude is pure poison. This story has a little bit of everything that is wrong in this country.

[steveyinasia]

I though it was already established that he was operating illegally....anything happening about that?

[atyclb]

Threatening legal action/fines may simply be the way to a quick bribe... problem solved.

The only real key to a better future and non illusionary progress is via education... Good luck and don't hold your breath

[marko kok prong]

10,000 into the right hands should see her exonerated.

[kieran2698]

Unfortunately, accidents of this kind happen in Laos quite often and imagine what is happening in Afghanistan and Iraq now and well into the future. It's time that the countries who leave unexploded ordnance behind take responsibility. If this bomb did indeed come from WWII then it is almost certainly an American bomb and it is them who should feel responsible for leaving the damn thing there.

[marko kok prong]

At my wifes shop there is a small roofed area where one of those timber bench things they sit on is placed underneath,to my horror today i noted a bit of old reinforcincing wire from construction stuck into one of the pillars at just about kidney height and actually angled in to the sitting area,Vlad the impaler would have been proud of this setup,i removed it and told her it was very dangerous and she had a duty of care to her customers,the reply,well yea you geussed it,"my pen rai" i took it out and threw it away,she looked annoyed as it was a useful hook,for what i ask killing you customers,plus the whole area was littered with beer bottles.i can feel my inner Brian Clough voice coming on !She could well be on the bench -AGAIN>

[BillyBobThai]

The owner of the shop that bought the bomb was not very smart.

Why sell as scrap metal

Better to sell to the terrorists in the south

I'm sure they would have had a few orgasms just thinking of the chaos it would have caused

The PTP reds would have paid good money for it.

[kieran2698]

The owner of the shop that bought the bomb was not very smart.

Why sell as scrap metal

Better to sell to the terrorists in the south

I'm sure they would have had a few orgasms just thinking of the chaos it would have caused

The PTP reds would have paid good money for it.

Or the NSPRT

[Benmart]

First I have heard of any OH&S regulations in Thailand. Watching the way people work safety standards just doesnt exist unless they are being ignored like road rules!

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

There are many such laws in Thailand. Enforcement is another issue.

The USA was rife with appaling child labor, police corruption, patent medicine/snake oil poisons, racism, non-voting for women, and on and on. It took years of legislation, enforcement, trials, public education, etc. to eliminate or change these conditions. The struggle is still ongoing in many areas.

To browbeat Thailand may be justified in some cases, but one only had to look at the history of ones own "civilized" country or origin to see we aren't as superior as we may wish.

To criticize without contributing to genuine change is the path of the narrow minded and weak willed.

[chiangmaiman99]

.... and in the event the owner is not found guilty, they will become head of the bomb disposal unit...

[surangw]

rules to enforce common sense ?

[wonder6281]

First I have heard of any OH&S regulations in Thailand. Watching the way people work safety standards just doesnt exist unless they are being ignored like road rules!

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

There are many such laws in Thailand. Enforcement is another issue.

The USA was rife with appaling child labor, police corruption, patent medicine/snake oil poisons, racism, non-voting for women, and on and on. It took years of legislation, enforcement, trials, public education, etc. to eliminate or change these conditions. The struggle is still ongoing in many areas.

To browbeat Thailand may be justified in some cases, but one only had to look at the history of ones own "civilized" country or origin to see we aren't as superior as we may wish.

To criticize without contributing to genuine change is the path of the narrow minded and weak willed.

I can't speak for the USA, but I can offer my opinion on what I have seen here. Safety standards are either non existent or ignored which runs parallel to driving habits.

No matter how much change is introduced or legislated, culture will remain dominant.

It is hard to contribute for genuine change when the narrow minded and weak willed won't listen or choose to ignore, hence the criticism!

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Spoonman]

They make it up as they go along, To say there are Health and safety regulations in Thailand is a joke.

There is actually and some companies heavily police them.