Samsung Exec Aplogizes for Acid Leak Incident

[exfileme]

Samsung will not file for "green" status at its Hwaseong-based factory for another five years.

Samsung Exec Aplogizes for Acid Leak Incident : Read more

 

[fnh]

Samsung Exec Aplogizes for Acid Leak Incident

I wonder if Aplogizes is a pun ... try reading it out.

 

[stickmansam]

This is why you should wear full hazmat gear

 

[jazz84]

[citation][nom]Stickmansam[/nom]This is why you should wear full hazmat gear[/citation]

Yeah but even so, hydrofluoric acid is uh... nasty, nasty stuff. Do your own research though; definitely not the subject matter for this forum. Suffice to say though, it dissolves glass.

In any case, the fine doesn't even approach "slap on the wrist" territory. Especially for a behemoth like Samsung, this is more of a gentle poke with a packing peanut. Seriously, why even bother with a fine at that point? $52.4 billion in revenue for Q4 2012, take away $923. Yeah... that'll teach 'em.

 

[nebun]

only $923 .... lol....what a joke

 

[ikyung]

[citation][nom]jazz84[/nom]Yeah but even so, hydrofluoric acid is uh... nasty, nasty stuff. Do your own research though; definitely not the subject matter for this forum. Suffice to say though, it dissolves glass.In any case, the fine doesn't even approach "slap on the wrist" territory. Especially for a behemoth like Samsung, this is more of a gentle poke with a packing peanut. Seriously, why even bother with a fine at that point? $52.4 billion in revenue for Q4 2012, take away $923. Yeah... that'll teach 'em.[/citation]
That is how bureaucracy works. Look at the fines for all other developed nations including our own. But, imagine how much Samsung paid to the families of the man who was killed and the families of those who were injured. Probably more then 10 million easily for the settlements of all those who were involved in the accident.

And yes, it WILL teach them not because they have to pay couple millions since that is still chump change to a company like Samsung, but because the damage of the image of the company. If something like this was to happen over and over again, Samsung will lose billions in revenue not just millions.

 

[house70]

It is a law that has also specified the amount of the fine in case of breaking it. Simple as that. The fine is not (and should not) be adjusted proportionally to that company's pockets; it is not how law-based society works. It is pre-determined in the law and should be applied as such.

Just because you could afford to pay a $10,000 fine for a speeding ticket doesn't mean you should have to pay that amount.

In this case, a law was broken as well and the fine associated with it was applied.

 

[WyomingKnott]

[citation][nom]house70[/nom]It is a law that has also specified the amount of the fine in case of breaking it. Simple as that. The fine is not (and should not) be adjusted proportionally to that company's pockets; it is not how law-based society works. It is pre-determined in the law and should be applied as such. Just because you could afford to pay a $10,000 fine for a speeding ticket doesn't mean you should have to pay that amount. In this case, a law was broken as well and the fine associated with it was applied.[/citation]
I've always thought that fines should be adjusted for income. A one-thousand dollar fine for snuffling the wumpuses would be a hardship for an hourly worker and a pinprick for the CEO. "one one-hundredth of your annual income" makes more sense to me.

 

[catfishtx]

Yes, HF is some very bad stuff. Odorless and colorless, if it was in a glass jar you would think it was water. It doesn't burn your skin like other acids, it gets absorbed by your skin and starts dissolving your bones. Supposedly, it is how the mob (and Walter White) got rid of bodies.

 

[JPForums]

[citation][nom]jazz84[/nom]In any case, the fine doesn't even approach "slap on the wrist" territory. Especially for a behemoth like Samsung, this is more of a gentle poke with a packing peanut. Seriously, why even bother with a fine at that point? $52.4 billion in revenue for Q4 2012, take away $923. Yeah... that'll teach 'em.[/citation]
They (Samsung) aren't getting fined for the leak.
Leaks happen and they took the appropriate actions by immediately calling in a professional clean up crew (STI Service).

They aren't getting fined for the death of the contractor.
Proper procedures should be outlined by STI Services not Samsung.
Further, the one that died was apparently neglecting proper procedures as he didn't have a hazmat suit on when the others did. STI Services may eventually be on the hook for the whole group if it is found their procedures are inadequate to protect their workers, but Samsung is not on the line for this)

They aren't getting fined for environmental damages as there hasn't been a report of environmental contamination.

They aren't (currently) being fined for inadequate maintenance procedures, though that may change if an investigation determines maintenance to be inadequate.

What they are being fined for is waiting to report the leak to public officials. One thousand dollars does seem small, but to be fair, the leak was contained (no report of environmental contamination) and nasty as hydrofluoric acid is they could only have waited a very short time before reporting it. Also consider, Samsung and STI Service were equally responsible for reporting the incident. Under local law, that quite probably means an equal fine (they were both charged $923). Somehow I doubt STI service is in the same financial situation as Samsung. I think you'll see a much larger fine if Samsung is found to have been negligent in their maintenance. Think of it like the difference between an automobile accident due to ice vs an accident due to tires shredding well after they should have been replaced.

 

[TeraMedia]

@catfishtx: Except that if HF acid was in a glass jar, the jar would slowly get dissolved.

HF was one of the nastiest chemicals I had to work with when I made some semiconductors and micromachines back in college. It practically required its own set of gear. My biggest question is, what happens to HF when it's released into the environment? I would think that it would quickly latch onto and tear apart most of the materials with which it came into contact (e.g. sand = glass, etc.). There are other chemicals used in IC manufacture that aren't as powerful, but could very well be more toxic and more difficult to control if released into the wild.

 

[kdw75]

That is why you should buy from Apple. Sterling reputation and they care for their employees.

 

[kdw75]

That is why you should buy from Apple. Sterling reputation and they care for their employees.

 

[house70]

[citation][nom]kdw75[/nom]That is why you should buy from Apple. Sterling reputation and they care for their employees.[/citation]
LOL. Joke of the day, son. You got some serious humor going there.

 

[house70]

[citation][nom]WyomingKnott[/nom]I've always thought that fines should be adjusted for income. A one-thousand dollar fine for snuffling the wumpuses would be a hardship for an hourly worker and a pinprick for the CEO. "one one-hundredth of your annual income" makes more sense to me.[/citation]
Wow. I don't know where are you writing from, but I certainly would NOT want that kind of justice here. Different penalty "adjusted for income"? So if you're very rich, you should be what, put to death for a speeding ticket? Are you serious? What precedent would that create? Even more so, what justification would you have for that? Just because one can afford to pay a fine doesn't mean one should be ruined because of that. Discrimination based on income is not something to be wished for in ANY system, let alone a democracy.
If you read a bit more about nascent communist regimes around the world, they all began by punishing successful people by imprisoning them in all kinds of Gulags. That was after they were stripped of everything they had, just because they could afford stuff that the commies could not. I know what I am talking about, I came from such a country.
I really hope you were joking.

 

[TeraMedia]

@house70, actually there are countries where the fines for speeding are done EXACTLY like that. If your income is $10m annually and you get a speeding ticket, you'll pay 100 times more (or at least some relatively large amount more) than a person whose income is only $100k annually. And according to most of the defendants - even the rich ones who pay more - the system works successfully as the deterrent it was intended to be. There are record fines of over $100k in at least one of those countries. Here's a Google search result link that explains more:
http://autos.aol.com/article/highest-speeding-fines/
No one is put into the poor house - and that's the good part. If you have a hard time putting a loaf of bread on the table, you're not going to get crushed with a $1000 fine. But if you pour Cristal as easily as you do Evian (what's tap water?), then a $50 ticket isn't going to really deter you the way it was intended... but a $5000 ticket very well might make you think twice.

That's a world different from the silicon valley tycoons who spin their Porsches on Skyline Blvd and get off with a slap on the wrist if they're not in a coffin.

Personally, the selfish part of me prefers the "one fine fits all" approach because it means that I'll pay less. Societally, though, well, that would be selfish of me. If my level of disposable income makes the fine little more than an erratum, then I can get away with something that a person with less disposable income cannot. I don't expect to be lynched and thrown in a Gulag, mind you, but a poor person has a right to expect to be treated equitably and justly as much as a rich person.