'FedEx exposed Korean workers to danger of anthrax'

'FedEx exposed Korean workers to danger of anthrax'
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/06/116_180070.html
Posted : 2015-06-02 17:37
Updated : 2015-06-02 22:10
'FedEx exposed workers to danger of anthrax'

By Jun Ji-hye

Activists and labor unions argued Tuesday that FedEx's delivery of live anthrax samples might have exposed its workers to serious danger.

The world's top package courier has delivered anthrax samples to 18 labs in the United States and to Osan Air Base, south of Seoul. The delivery took place over the past year, according to the Pentagon.

Shin Soo-yeon, a member of Green Korea, an environment civic group, said such a delivery is directly related to workers' rights to good health.

"Delivery workers might not have known that they were delivering live anthrax samples," she told The Korea Times. "It is doubtful whether the delivery of live samples through the private company would ever be disclosed to the public if there was no report in the U.S."

The mistaken mailing of live anthrax samples was first revealed after a lab in Maryland, which discovered that the bacteria was not an inert training sample as expected, made a report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Then, the U.S. Department of Defense officially announced mistakes in anthrax delivery, Thursday.

"It could have posed a grave danger to the deliverymen. Possible wrong delivery could have posed an even graver danger to unspecified individuals," Shin said. "It is a must to check which safety measures were taken before the delivery and who needs to take responsibility for the threatened rights of workers' health."

The Korean Public Service and Transport Workers' Union also issued a statement claiming, "The U.S. government's acts of brutality and Korean government's poor management threatened the lives of laborers and the public."

"We are astounded that one of the most hazardous materials used in biochemical weapons has been delivered with other ordinary parcels," it said. "Laborers will be the first that are exposed to the danger of anthrax, and this danger is directly related to the safety of the people."

The union called for strengthening safety measures to prevent recurrence of the incident.

Citizens sympathized with the concerns.

An office worker, surnamed Kim, said, "A very serious tragedy could have occurred if the delivery vehicle had an accident, for example."

FedEx has been quiet about the issue, except for issuing an official statement saying, "All shipments have been safely delivered to their destinations without incident, and we're confident that none of the shipments compromised the health or safety of our employees or customers."

The samples originated from the Dugway Proving Ground that has been testing chemical and biological warfare weapons since it was opened in 1942 on a desert in Utah.

It arrived at the United States Forces Korea's airbase about four weeks ago in a frozen liquid state in a triple wrapped package, according to Korean authorities. Twenty two lab personnel may have been exposed to the anthrax during training last Wednesday. They were given antibiotics for possible exposure, but none have shown any symptoms of infection so far.

jjh@ktimes.com,