Thai Workers Killed in Building Collapse by Phairath Khampha 12 February 2002 At least eight workers in Thailand were killed and more than 50 injured when a three-storey factory, owned by Delta Electronics, a Taiwanese company, collpased. The workers were all on a night shift in the electronics factory, east of the capital, Bangkok. Iron beams and air conditioning units came crashing down on the employees when part of the roof and other structures caved in. Building collpases are not uncommon in Thailand because of corrupt collusive practices between government officials responsible for building and construction safety, engineers and contractors. Even many of the 5-star hotels in Bangkok are inherently unsafe, but the danger lies behind the pretty cladding that makes them look as solid and safe as any building in New York. All five factories in Thailand owned by Delta Electronics were closed after a check that revealed cracks in the walls of two other Delta Electronics factories at Samut Prakan affected the structural integrity of the buildings and a second factory was in danger of collapse. All five of the company's factories in the Bang Pu industrial estate were thus closed down until their safety could be assured. Shoddy design and construction were attributed to ignorance or lack of appropriate care on the part of structural engineers and/or contractors, and corrupt building inspection officials that were paid bribes to allow dangerous and unauthorized construction and modifications to be made. At least 2,500 medium-sized and large factories in Samut Prakan were prone to accidents similar to the collapse of the roof Delta Electronics' plant, according to Thailand's Industrial Works Department. Police discovered that although the approved design was in order, the construction had deviated from the design without authorisation. Police said about 100 women workers were inside the Delta Electronics Thailand building, in Samut Prakarn province, 40km east of Bangkok, when a concrete beam buckled at 3.30am, crushing to death seven women and one man. A police official said it appeared the roof cracked and tore apart under 30 tonnes of air-conditioning equipment. "It's clear the beam and platform collapsed because of weight and because the building was illegally modified and probably improperly design," Interior Minister Purachai Piumsombun said. "Certainly it had not been designed according to the more modern plastic design theory otherwise there would not have been such sudden, catastrophic failure. It possibly was over-reinforced." Investigations continued into the cause of the accident. Industry Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said after inspecting the scene that the collapse might also have been caused by shoddy construction, although he was surprised the 90-metre-long girder was suspended across the roof without any columns supporting it. It was supposed to hold up 16 overhead HVAC units. Some 500 workers, mostly women, were on duty at the Delta Electronics (Thailand) factory when the reinforced concrete platform bearing 16 heavy-duty air-conditioners fell on a production line of about 120 workers. The five-rai factory on Sukhumvit road in Muang district was divided into a three-storey office zone and a two-floor production line area. The manufacturing zone comprised four production lines. The concrete platform was hung above the second floor of the production zone. The air-conditioners controlled temperatures for electronic parts production. The platform, 30 centimetres thick, 4.5 metres wide and 90 metres long (the same length of the factory), thundered as it fell. Seven women working below were killed instantly. Most of them sat next to one another. They were identified as Miss Saifon Kongsa, 35, from Surin, Miss Yupa Kleepthong, 29, from Phichit, Miss Preeya Boonyos, 27, from Si Sa Ket, Mrs Mukdaporn Butmas, 34, from Udon Thani, Mrs Sommai Singla, Miss Pimpa Chayasakulsin, and Miss Nipaporn Nampueng. Their bodies were buried under the platform and it took rescue workers until 10am to retrieve them. Fifty-seven workers were injured as the falling platform brought down wires, pipes and ceiling tiles. More than 200 police and rescue workers took part in the rescue, which was still going as 1,000 workers arrived for the day shift. Rescue workers from private foundations fought to retrieve the bodies. Samut Prakan governor Sawang Srisakun had to call forensic staff in to carry out their work at the factory. Industry Minister Suriya Jueng-rungruangkij inspected the site along with chiefs from the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) and the Industrial Works Department. He said the platform was hung from the factory roof with steel rods and could not bear the 10-tonne weight of the machines. He said either the engineers who designed it were completely ignorant of modern concrete structural design and had no understanding of simple structural engineering, or the work had been done illegally without engineers being involved. Either way, it is obvious corrupt and/or ignorant officials had been involved in the inspection and the passing of the structure. Not a single column had been built to support the structure, despite its length, and the structure had failed due to simple Euler buckling, he said. The platform was hooked on to the roof on one side with the factory's wall on the other side. Mr Suriya said the company had not sought IEAT approval before putting up the platform. Each air-conditioner weighed about 600-700 kilogrammes. The minister ordered the damaged factory closed for repairs. The department and the IEAT closed and would check four other Delta Electronics (Thailand) factories at the industrial estate that had been designed by the same structural engineer. They, too, would be permanently closed if they were found unsafe, the minister said. The same order for checks took effect on factories nationwide. However, given that the inspections would be made by corrupt officials coming with hat in hand and palm outstretched, even if there were serious problems they would "not be seen". Anusorn Mutra-it, a director of Delta Electronics (Thailand), admitted the platform was overloaded with the air-conditioners, which also vibrated while at work, but he thought it did not matter and had told previous inspectors it was not an important issue. The factory was built three years ago. Maj-General Pichit Kuandechakupt, commissioner of Provincial Police Region 1, said police were preparing to file two charges against the company's management for gross negligence and allowing an unauthorised building extension. He said the company had not sought a permit before adding the beam to the structure. Delta managing director Anusorn said the plant's structure was designed and supervised by in-house engineers. He contended that Delta was not required to report to industrial-estate authorities about making any structural modifications, although he was not sure whether the beam that cracked was part of the original design or a recent addition. The Social Security Office said it would reimburse families of the deceased their funeral expenses and would pay them compensation at 60 per cent of the victim's salary for eight years. Anusorn said he would find out if the platform had been added to after it opened. He claimed that no regulations required his company to seek approval for putting in the platform. Clearly untrue according to Thailand's building code. The company usually supervised such tasks itself as it employed 800 engineers. Mr Anusorn said he would find the engineers responsible. The company would take full responsibility for the tragedy. Pol Maj-Gen Pichit Kuantechakup, region 1 police commander, later said factory executives could be charged with recklessness causing death and adding structures to the factory without authorisation. Delta Electronics (Thailand), a Thai-Taiwanese joint venture, employed 13,000 workers at five factories in the industrial estate and another in the Wellgrow industrial estate in Chachoengsao Province. The factories run around the clock in a sweat-shop type of environment making electronic parts for computers and mobile phones sold in North America and other first world countries. Elsewhere in Thailand, police said one worker was killed and 11 injured when a water boiler at a tapioca flour mill exploded, north-east of Bangkok in Nakhon Ratchasima province. False inspection papers for the boiler issued by a corrupt official paid off by the owner seems to have been behind the cause. Clearing the way for safety inspectors Thailand's public safety regulators either do their job badly or are prevented from performing their duty. Either way, they would not be able to easily extricate themselves from the blame for the frequent occurrence of man-made disasters, such as the January 29 explosion at the army stockpile in Nakhon Ratchasima and the collapse of the factory building in Samut Prakarn, causing needless loss of lives and injuries. There is no lack of laws and regulations with which officials in Thailand can enforce safety standards covering the general public and employees in the workplace. But in a country where money and influence can bend the law to one's advantage, not many safety regulators are able to do their work in a straightforward manner. As a result, the professionalism and personal integrity of too many of them have been compromised with the consequences that was witnessed in Samut Prakarn. So many hotels, department stores and other larges structures in Bangkok, including very expensive hotels, have similarly flawed structures. The cladding on these buildings make them look as solid and strong as any highrise in New York's Manhattan. However, inside, behind all the glitter, lies an ugly truth waiting for an opportunity to tragically manifest itself. After the factory's collapse, the Industry Ministry ordered inspection of all industrial plants throughout the country to ensure that they strictly conformed to building laws and regulations, and threatened legal actions against those found to have endangered their workers in violation of the law. This was a classic kind of knee-jerk reaction by the Industry Ministry and local agencies responsible for public and workplace safety in Thailand, but it was also an insult to members of the public, who have placed their trust in safety regulators. Police investigators, with the help of independent safety experts, must get to the bottom of the matter and find out whose fault it was that led to the collapse of the building, so that legal action can be taken against wrongdoers - owners, managers or safety officers at the industrial plant. This applies to the army officers in charge of the Pak Chong munitions stockpile near a residential area that blew up in late January killing a soldier, only three months after a similar explosion killed dozens and destroyed hundereds of homes. When all rubble is cleared, the injured healed, the disabled provided for (if ever), relatives of the dead compensated and wrongdoers punished (if ever), the public must demand to know exactly what preventive measures the authorities would put in place to minimise the recurrence of such preventable disasters. In Thailand major collapses occur with horrifying regularity. All five factories closed after check - Cracks found in two other Delta plants Delta Electronics (Thailand) Plc was ordered to shut down its operations indefinitely after a second of its six factories was found to be at risk of collapse. Inspectors from the Industry Ministry later found the third and fourth floors of a third plant were probably overloaded with bulk lead, a raw material used by the electronics giant in production. Cracks affecting the structural integrity of the buildings were found in the walls of two other Delta Electronics factories at Samut Prakan on February 2. All five of the company's factories in the Bang Pu industrial estate were thus closed down until their safety could be assured or responsible officials could be paid the large bribes they were now demanding. Officials from the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand and the Industrial Works Department inspected the Bang Pu factories on February 1. They found several cracks in the walls of the first and third factory that had been covered over with cement paste in an attempt to hide the structural flaws. Vibrations felt on the third floor of the third factory was also a cause for concern because it appeared that the vibrations were what are known as Eurler vibrations, caused when too slender compressive members are nearling the buckling failure load. Authorities told the firm to remove the air-conditioners, reinforce the foundation and build numerous fat supporting columns as a short term measure. "That's an urgent measure. The company would be required to rebuild the factories according to proper design and construction engineering," said Virah Mavichak, the department's director-general. "These huge buildings were built as if by a trainee engineer straight out of university with no real understanding of structural behaviour." The management of the Thai-Taiwanese joint venture said it "could rebuild the factory in April when business was slow and that in the meantime the workers would have to put up with the risk; after all it was only for several weeks". Industry Minister Suriya Juengrungruengkij, however, said some operations might resume the following week because, despite the cracks, the factories' steel structures were still intact. The closure was "only a safety precaution". The managers had no objection to the closure, said the minister, despite criticism from the workers and private engineers that the state had been lax in inspecting the plants. Delta Electronics was also required to bring in an independent appraiser to inspect the factories--it was suggested it should be an international structural engineering firm with Thai-speaking engineers trained in some country such as Australia, Germany, Britain, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, etc. "The steel structures are in good condition. Only some factories need repair work. There shouldn't be a problem with partial re-opening," he said. No charges had been pressed, said Pol Col Chalet Thanasrisuebwong, deputy chief of Samut Prakan police. Two potential charges could be laid-recklessness causing death and injury and violation of building control law, he said. He said the company had co-operated with investigators; meaning substantial amounts of money had been transferred in order to calm down the situation. This had been the first concern of the senior police officers who became involved in the case. Sitthichai Chiewyuenyong, an engineer from Bang Pu industrial estate, reported to police for questioning on February 1. He also handed over design details of the fifth factory. Kamjad Boonmak, the human resources manager, was also questioned. Kanthawee Kulsomboom, an engineer in charge of design and construction, and Narapoj Thiewthanom, manager of the Bang Pu industrial estate, were questioned on February 4. The labour and social welfare department paid each of the families of the dead 16,800 (1 US Dollar = 44.1 Thai Baht) baht for funeral rites and another 12,000 baht in family support. Medical bills for the injured workers would be absorbed by the workers' compensation fund, but each was eligible to no more than 85,000 baht. The rest would have to come out of the families' pockets. That is how it is in Thailand. Meanwhile, the opposition says it would question the government on the issue. Democrat MP Ong-art Klampaiboon said the government should say what measures would be put in place to avoid a repeat of the tragedy. "So far, the state has done nothing more than giving away money and taking money," he said. Presumably he was suggesting that Delta Electronics was in the habit of paying off officials to make sure it was not hassled by the implementation of laws and safety regulations. Suriya Juengrungruangkij, the industry minister, said the closure would cost the company an estimated loss of 80 million baht a day, he said, although a Delta executive later projected the daily loss at 50 million baht. The minister said a preliminary inspection revealed that the six buildings were designed originally to support weights of up to nine tonnes, but the collapsed building had not been built to comply with the design. In fact, he said, it could only support weights about 600 kilogrammes lower than the specified requirement according to the original design specifications. He could not understand why the engineers had designed the structure to support less than what had been called for in the design criteria. "Therefore, the engineers should be the first to take responsibility for the accident," Mr Suriya said. However, he said it had yet to be clarified whether or not the factory's owner and management would also be held responsible. Chienthai Construction and Engineering Co was the contractor for Delta's factory construction, with Civil Design and Arch Co as its sub-contractor. Khwantawee Kulsomboon was named as the engineer who controlled the construction but the company he worked for was not identified. Kulwadee Kawayawong, an executive at the Delta president's office, said the longer the factory was closed, the poorer the government's image would be in the eyes of foreign investors, as it would suggest a slow and inefficient investigative process. Of course, she was concerned more about getting the company to start making money again than whether or not the buildings were safe for the workers. After all, her office was not in any of those buildings. The company was talking with the contractor to find the root cause of the collapse, said Ms Kulwadee, adding that the cost of damage to the building was not immediately known, although the machinery and equipment was worth about five million baht. "We believe that the destroyed section, accounting for 20% of the factory's space, should be repaired to resume production within three days," she said. "In any event the sooner production can be restarted the better and the safety issues can be resolved afterwards with discussions." "It was a load-bearing problem relating to the beams and thin columns in the section where additions had been made," she said, referring to the mode of the collpase. Ms Kulwadee said the incident was unlikely to have an adverse impact on the company as the circumstances were "beyond its control". Given the company had paid huge bribes, it was not quite clear how this argument made sense. The damaged plant cost 800 million baht to build and began commercial production early in 2000. It now employs 4,000 workers. The first floor was designed to make magnetic and DC fan products while the second was to manufacture switching power supply units, the core income generator. Potjanee Thanavaranit, the director-general of the Insurance Department, said Delta was covered for 9.344 billion baht in damages. However, surveyors were checking the terms of the policy as it covered only damage by fire, lightning, explosion, plane crash, storm, water, public disorder and strikes. The policy excluded damage caused by erosion and dilapidation and decrepidness as a result of poor construction design and using substandard construction materials and subsequent poor maintenance, all of which are extremely common in Thailand. Executives arrested, out on bail Police on February 3 arrested two executives of Delta Electronics on charges relating to the fatal collapse of the roof of one of the company's plants , charing them with recklessness leading to deaths. Colonel Atthapol Dedduang, chief of police in Samut Prakan's Muang district, said Anusorn Muthra-is and Wang Ming Cheng had been charged with recklessness resulting in death and injury. The two surrendered to police to hear the charges and were later released on bail. The engineer in charge of construction of the collapsed structure, Kwanthawee Kulsomboon, was charged with the same offences the following day. Anusorn and Sitthichai Chiewyuenyong, a C-7 official at IEAT, yesterday met police investigators and showed them blueprints of the plant where the accident occurred. The plans show the building was designed by Chien Thai (1992) Co Ltd engineer Kachakorn Suwanboon. Sompong Larpiampaisan was the engineer in charge of construction for the entire complex. Engineer fails to turn up for questioning Kwanthawee Kulsomboon did not keep a 10am appointment to hear the charges against him, but telephoned to say that he would surrender the following morning, said Pol Col Atthapol Detduang, head of Samut Prakan's Muang district police. "If he does not surrender as promised we will seek an arrest warrant as soon as possible. This would deprive him of the right to bail, which had been allowed other Delta company executives," Pol Col Atthapol said. Deputy provincial police chief Pol Col Chales Thanasrisuebwong, who heads the police investigation, said he expected other people would be charged, including Bang Pu industrial estate staff. All suspects would be charged with carelessness causing death and injury and some of them might face an additional charge of violating the Building Control Act. Delta exec 'accepts responsibility' A top executive of Taiwan's Delta Electronics on February 4 accepted responsibility for the collapse of the company's computer-assembly plant. Ung Kuangming, the company's largest shareholder, told a press conference Delta accepted responsibility for those killed and injured in the incident but added that what had happened had not been a result of the company's intention or carelessness. He said the company would employ members of families that had lost their bread-winners in the collapse. He said this would kill two birds with one stone, because it would provide some income for these families as well as meet the all-important production quotas. Local Delta executive Anusorn Muthra-is said the company had many orders from clients to produce computer parts and could not afford to suspend operations. He said it would pay overtime to meet clients' deadlines. "We cannot afford to lose any customers by late delivery," Anusorn said. "If any clients order from our competitors and decide to stick with them, we will lose huge revenue. In the end, for us this is the most important issue arising out of this incident." 2,500 factories and plants not meeting safety standards At least 2,500 medium-sized and large factories in Samut Prakan alone were prone to accidents similar to the collapse of the roof of Delta Electronics' plant, according to the Industrial Works Department, and that this appears to have become a normal kind of situation in the country. In a bid to avert the recurrence of a tragedy, the department said it would send 60 engineering inspectors, grouped into 15 teams, to inspect the factories in the province starting on February 5. The inspections, which would be expanded to other industrialised provinces, would focus on the strength of buildings, weight loads of beams, columns and piles, additions, fire exits and other facilities to ensure they complied with authorised designs. Accident-control systems and safety standards of workers in the factories would also be checked, said Virah Mavichak, the department's director-general. There were a total of 4,000 factories in Samut Prakan and Mr Virah said the inspections would be done at random, targeting factories with workforces of more than 200 or those with machinery of more than 1,000 horsepower. "The factories found to be at risk will receive two warnings. After that, if the factories fail to solve the problems, they will be subject to punishments ranging from fines to closures," he said. Factories prone to accidents were those that produced vegetable oil, chemicals, insecticides, synthetic rubber, elastomer, synthetic fibre, plastic, paint, lacquer, petroleum products, gas, and explosives. "This will become a major inspection by the department, after many factories in this industrial estate area have been frequently reported for pollution and accidents," Mr Virah said. Industry Minister Suriya Juengrungruangkij said the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand had been ordered to inspect the safety standards of factories in 29 industrial estates nationwide. In a related development, Interior Minister Purachai Piumsombun said that his ministry's Public Works Department would join with the Pollution Control Department of the Science Ministry to inspect 506 factories in Greater Bangkok where hazardous chemical substances were used. Of all the targeted factories, 109 had submitted their required information to the Pollution Control Department. Mr Purachai said the inspections would focus on the types of chemicals the companies used and the safety measures they had in place. "Owners of the factories that fail to introduce proper safety management or have hazardous substances will be asked to move their plants from community areas," said Mr Purachai. He said that if they did not co-operate, the ministry might introduce legal enforcement of plant relocations. Most people in the street ventured that little would change, however, and that only many inspectors would become fabulously wealthy. As of February 5 a total of four suspects had been charged with two criminal violations - gross negligence resulting in death, and unauthorised structural modification, said Pol Colonel Atthapol Dedduang, superintendent of Samut Prakan police station. Ung Kuang-ming, a Taiwanese executive of Delta Electronics, which operates the plant, and Thai civil engineer Kwanthawee Kulsomboon, who supervised construction of the factory, reported to authorities after being summonsed. Each was released on Bt100,000 bond. Already charged and released were Taiwanese executive Wang Min-jen and Thai manager Anusorn Mutra-is. Atthapol said police were deciding whether to file charges against industrial inspectors who oversaw the construction. Police discovered that although the approved design was in order, the construction had deviated from the design without authorisation. Engineers confirm construction faults - Design specifications not met by builder Thailand's Council of Engineers confirmed suspicions the accident at Delta Electronics factory resulted from the use of cramp irons or "dowel bars" that did not meet the building's design specifications The construction blueprint required that each of the 11 columns of the platform be connected with the ceiling through U-shape dowel bars for precise load bearing efficiency. Delta workers flee in panic a second time About 2,000 Delta Electronics workers fled their workplace in panic on February 7 after being startled by a loud noise. Many suffered bruises and some fainted in the chaos, fearing a repeat of the previous week’s tragic factory collapse, in which many of their colleagues were killed. In attempt to improve morale and allay fears, Delta held a religious ceremony today to bless the workers and their workplace, although it was not clear how that could ever prevent any more similar collapses. After inspecting the factory compound on February 7, Industry Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit and the governor of the Industrial Estate Authority, Anchalee Chawanit, said Delta Electronics’ plants No 1, No 3 and No 5 were safe enough to resume operations. “Now, the company has to work hard on ensuring workers that all the plants are safe enough for them,” Suriya said. Chaos broke out at the factory compound after workers in plant No 5 were alarmed by loud noises and ran outside causing widespread panic. Suriya said the incident indicated that workers’ morale was very low. Workers said that they might resume work on February 11 if Delta could obtain the endorsement of the industrial safety authorities to reopen the five computerparts factories. They also sought and were granted full pay during the work stoppage for the safety inspections. In the presence of local press and provincial authorities, Delta manager Anusorn Mutrais tried to convince his workers to resume work. had Anusorn assured the employees that all five plants at Bangpu Industrial Estate had passed safety inspections. The fifth plant, which partially collapsed, had been reinforced and was ready to resume operations, he said. But given that every single Thai knows that wealthy factory owners can simply pay big bribes to have serious situations to be "found" to be all right, the employees only reluctantly filed in to report for work at the five-factory complex at 9am. Ten minutes later, workers stationed in plant No 5 ran out yelling that the building had started to collapse again, prompting those in other buildings to follow suit. Speaking after inspecting the scene, Anusorn said that people panicked after hearing what they thought was the sound of the building collapsing, although in fact it was just the noise of the air conditioning. Other factory repairs The municipality of Bang Pu in Samut Prakan province ordered a factory to reinforce part of a building. Singha Rattanawichit, municipality secretary, said his office had received complaints from workers that factory building No 4 of Fair Textile Co, which had caught fire in 1997, had been illegally partly extended without permits or approvals. Machines had been put on the third floor and its rooftop turned into a thread storage area such that the added weight had reached a point where the building was imminently about to collapse by buckling.