Chonburi - Ammonia leak sickens 100 workers

**dirtydog** · 25-10-2010, 07:58 PM

Ammonia leak sickens 100 workers

More than 100 workers were rushed to hospitals following an ammonia leak at a processed food factory in Chon Buri on Monday, Chon Buri's Nong Yai police chief Damrong Namkhet said.

Pol Lt Col Damrong said the leakage of ammonia was reported at a factory of GFPT Nichirei (Thailand) Co Ltd (GFN).

He said most workers suffered headaches, nausea, breathing difficulties and vomiting.

Nong Yai Hospital nursing chief Chulee Anutrakulchai said most cases were not severe and many workers were allowed to return home.

A factory worker said she could smell the fumes about 7am today. Her colleagues tried to leave the factory but their manager refused to allow it.

She said the fumes kept getting stronger. Some workers fainted and other fled immediately.

GFN is a joint venture company between GFPT and Nichirei Food Inc, and produces cooked chicken - mainly steamed, fried and grilled products. Its main export market is Japan.

Bangkok Post

**dirtydog** · 25-10-2010, 08:00 PM

GFPT and Nichirei Foods’ Sign the Joint Venture Agreement to operate a chicken slaughtering house and a further processing plant in Thailand

Picture: Mr. Prasit Sirimongkolkasem (center right), Chairman of GFPT PCL., Mr. Virach Sirimongkolkasem (right), Vice Chairman and Managing Director of GFPT PCL., Mr. Mitsudo Urano (center left), Chairman of Nichirei Foods Inc., and Mr. Yoshihiko Soma (left), President of Nichirei Foods Inc. at the signing ceremony of the Joint Venture Agreement between GFPT Public Company Limited and Nichirei Foods Inc. to set up the Joint Venture Company, " GFPT Nichirei (Thailand) Company Limited ” on 6 November 2008

GFPT Public Company Limited (“GFPT”) is pleased to announce that it has earlier today entered into a joint venture agreement with Nichirei Foods Inc. (“NFI”), a leading processed food distributor in Japan to operate, a chicken slaughtering house and a further processing plant in Thailand. The joint venture company will be named GFPT Nichirei (Thailand) Company Limited (“GFN”), with its primary objectives to manufacture, market, and sell fully cooked chicken products to Japan and other international markets.

GFPT Public Company Limited

**hazz** · 25-10-2010, 10:36 PM

Ammonia is nasty stuff, presumably used as their refrigerant, I am more than surprised that the management didn't evacuate the site for no other reason that if someone was killed they would probably spend the next 10 years in court paying everyone and their dog off to avoid jail time.

One of my uni lectures managed to pour himself a cup of liquid ammonia by accident and he managed to spend 3 weeks in hospital recovering from breathing the fumes, I managed to breath about half a lung full of about a 50% ammonia/air mix and it was a bit like having a bomb going off in your head.

crocodilexp · 26-10-2010, 02:43 AM

Originally Posted by hazz

if someone was killed they would probably spend the next 10 years in court paying everyone and their dog off to avoid jail time.

I'm no expert, but I heard an average settlement in case of worker's death in Thailand is 10.000 baht (~USD 300). Stopping almost any industrial processes for a few hours costs way more than that. Life in Th is cheap.

As for the payoffs, it would probably be settled by someone higher up in the company to avoid publicity. I doubt it would ever come to a 10-year-long court case.

I truly hope I'm wrong on this one... Do you know of any precedents?

**hazz** · 26-10-2010, 01:13 PM

^ you are right, using the word 'probably' is very optimistic. However the easy payoff requires that the deceased's family believes they have not chance of justice for their departed and the offer they are getting to shut up and go away if the best they can achieve.

Thailand is changing slowly and I think its quite possible to a determined family to get an industrial death to court and once it's there they will have to result to the usual hiso tactics to delaying and appealing at every opportunity, because getting a case in the system dropped seems easier said than done. Whilst its a very successful technique, look at the Hiso piece of shit thats been sentenced to 10 years after pleading guilty to killing people with his Mercedes. Not a day in jail, but I am sure that the court case is a millstone all the same. I wouldn't want to be there.

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