Clarifying the accident during a practical class at Vocational College No. 4
(Baonghean.vn) - During practice, Nhan was unfortunately caught in a lathe, causing his arm to be severed. After the accident, the authorities reconstructed the scene, took witness statements to draw conclusions from the investigation.
In mid-December 2020, after many months of treatment at the hospital, Tran Duc Nhan (residing in Hung Chinh commune, Vinh city) returned to Vocational College No. 4 - Ministry of National Defense to continue his studies. However, due to the loss of his right arm, Nhan will only study culture for now before choosing another suitable career.
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| Student Tran Duc Nhan's right arm was completely severed with a disability assessed at 75%. Photo: PV |
According to the case file, on the afternoon of June 25, the K8 Metal Cutting class with 8 students led by teacher Nguyen Thi Huyen Trang of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering taught the practical lesson "turning triangle threads and preparing blanks".
During the course, Nhan and Tran Thanh Trai were assigned by the teacher to work in a team to operate the lathe. However, Nhan accidentally let the steel billet get caught in his protective sleeve, causing his right arm to get caught in the machine shaft, resulting in his arm being severed.
"When I ran to him, Nhan was lying on the floor, his arm was severed, but he was still very conscious and kept apologizing to the teacher about the accident," said Lieutenant Colonel Ha Kien Cuong - Vice Principal of Vocational College No. 4 - Ministry of National Defense. He also said that he was the one who directly brought the ice box to preserve Nhan's arm, and assigned staff and teachers to immediately follow the ambulance to take him to Nghe An Provincial General Hospital, just a few hundred meters away, in the hope of saving his student's arm.
Right at the first moment of emergency treatment in the critical situation, the hospital ran out of blood in the same group as Nhan, the school mobilized teachers and many students to stay up all night to donate blood.
Lieutenant Colonel Cuong and some teachers then went to Viet Duc Hospital (Hanoi) to coordinate with the family to treat Nhan. However, because Nhan had an underlying disease that was resistant to antibiotics, the surgery to reattach the arm did not go as expected, even though the school contacted the hospital's leading doctors to directly treat him.
Immediately after the incident, a labor accident investigation team was established in accordance with legal and military regulations to take full statements from witnesses, collect evidence, scene diagrams and related documents.
According to the investigation results, after Nhan finished his lesson, it was Trai's turn. However, instead of returning to his desk in the waiting line, Nhan walked back to the operating lathe, accidentally letting the steel billet get caught in his protective clothing, causing his right arm to get caught in the lathe billet, resulting in his arm being severed.
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| The lathe practice room is funded by ODA and is installed and operated according to prescribed standards. Photo: PV |
The scene of the accident was a narrow passageway between four lathes in the classroom. Sharing with Nghe An Newspaper reporters the reason for being in this area instead of returning to his seat as prescribed, Nhan said that after finishing the lathe, he stood at the front of the lathe to assist his friend and then transferred his product to another machine to continue finishing. On the way back to his seat via this shortcut, he unfortunately had the accident. "I didn't know this area was off-limits. I usually pass by," Nhan said.
According to the investigation team's conclusion: Before entering the practical training, all students here must study occupational safety, and each lesson has a section on occupational safety regulations, and right in front of the classroom door and next to the equipment, there is a safety regulation board. Therefore, students during the practical training are not allowed to walk or stand around the lathe. They are not allowed to leave the designated learning location without permission... At the time of the accident, Nhan had completed his practical training, and according to regulations, he had to return to his waiting seat, but he had walked to the operating lathe without permission.
The investigation team also held teacher Nguyen Thi Huyen Trang responsible for not strictly controlling compliance with labor safety regulations of the workshop during teaching hours, and was not present at the scene at the time of the accident.
Regarding the teacher not being present at the time of the incident, the leader of Vocational College No. 4 said that Ms. Trang went out to use the restroom. She had just left the classroom for about 20 meters when the accident happened.
"No matter what the reason, she cannot go out without another teacher to replace her. We then disciplined her with a warning, and the head of the department was also reprimanded for being jointly responsible," said Lieutenant Colonel Ha Kien Cuong.
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| The lathe area where the accident happened. Photo: PV |
After the accident, the school directly paid all the first aid, emergency and treatment costs, totaling more than 124 million VND. In addition, it also supported the family with 60 million VND and created conditions for continuing vocational training and supporting jobs suitable to Nhan's health. However, according to Lieutenant Colonel Ha Kien Cuong, the family of the male student filed a request for compensation for damages because the amount of support was low. Accordingly, in addition to the amount received, the family requested the school to support an additional 2.45 billion VND. Of which, 1.2 billion VND was for physical injuries; 80 million VND was for mental damage; 90 million VND was for Nhan's parents' loss of income and 1.08 billion VND was the amount that the family said was due to Nhan's loss of ability to work according to Article 601 of the Civil Code.
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| The area where the accident occurred, next to it is a board of safety rules for using lathes. Photo: PV |
According to Lieutenant Colonel Ha Kien Cuong: Regarding this issue, the school and the family representative have met 3 times to agree on a solution. However, up to this point, because they have not found a common voice on providing one-time support after the Medical Council's assessment results, the solution has not been completed. The family's request is inappropriate because this only applies to highly dangerous sources as well as in factories... Meanwhile, the accident occurred in the school's practice workshop. Therefore, the Law on Occupational Safety and Health and Decree No. 39/2016/ND-CP must be applied.
"The accident that happened while students were studying at school is a regrettable and unwanted event. On the school's side, during the process of resolving the incident, we tried to find a solution and in the future continue to support the family as in similar incidents that have occurred in the area. However, during the handling process, all issues must be based on current regulations and the nature of the incident to ensure that it is both correct and consistent with the wishes of both parties involved," said Lieutenant Colonel Ha Kien Cuong - Vice Principal of the school.