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Toyooka Village: Worker Accident at Linear Central Shinkansen Ina Mountain Tunnel Construction
Work suspended due to worker's serious injury



　At around 0:15 a.m. on September 8, a man who was working inside the Ina Mountain Tunnel (6.6 km) of the Linear Central Shinkansen Ina Mountain Tunnel construction in Toyooka Village was seriously injured. A male worker was working in the tunnel when he was run over by a backhoe, breaking his leg and seriously injuring his shin. JR Tokai has suspended construction of the Ina Tunnel in Toyooka Village. JR Tokai has suspended construction of this section of the tunnel and plans to resume it after investigating the cause and taking measures to prevent recurrence.

　According to the Iida Police Department, the accident occurred near the intersection of the main and slant tunnels. When the backhoe was backing up, it ran over the leg of Hidekatsu Hirazo, 55, a construction worker from Kamiina, Iida Village, who was nearby. He was taken to a hospital in Iida City and is said to be in stable condition.

　At the end of June last year, excavation work began at the Tonaka emergency exit of the construction section for the diagonal shaft (approximately 980 meters long), and was completed in early July of this year. Preparations for excavation of the main shaft are currently underway.

　In the construction of the Linear Ina Tunnel in Toyooka Village, occupational accidents involving workers injuring themselves occurred in the Sakashima construction section last November and in March and April of this year. The accidents in November and March resulted in only minor injuries, but in the April accident, a worker suffered a serious injury, including a broken finger, when his hand got caught between a steel plate and a suspension jig.

　In response to the April accident, JR Tokai suspended construction work in the same section. Construction resumed in June after the company implemented measures to prevent a reoccurrence, including the appointment of a full-time safety officer.


Infos based on Japanese Source: https://minamishinshu.jp/news/other/%E3 ... B7%A5.html Thursday, September 8, 2022

長野県「ＪＲ東海は積極的な情報開示を」　豊丘村の労災事故巡り
Nagano Prefecture: "JR Tokai should proactively disclose information" regarding the Toyooka Village work-related accident.

　On September 8, a man, an employee of a construction company, was seriously injured when he was run over by heavy machinery and broke his leg in the Ina-Sanchi tunnel and Mibusawa construction section of the Linear Central Shinkansen in Toyooka Village, Shimoina County. On August 9, it was learned that the Prefectural Linear Construction Promotion Bureau had called JR to confirm the facts about JR Tokai's response to the media reports, and informed the company of the need for proactive information disclosure.

　Mr. Masaichiro Saito, Director of the Prefectural Linear Construction Promotion Bureau, called Mr. Yoshihisa Furuya, Director of the Nagoya Construction Department of the Central Shinkansen Line Construction Division, shortly after 5:00 p.m. on August 8, and asked him to confirm whether it was true that the Public Relations Department had not provided any explanation of the accident situation in response to inquiries from the media.

Source: https://www.shinmai.co.jp/news/article/ ... 2090901119 Accessed: 2022/09/10 08:00

Failure to report linear work accidents? Labour Inspectorate files charges against construction company and others.


The Labour Standards Inspection Bureau has referred a construction company and its foreman for prosecution on suspicion of violating the Occupational Safety and Health Law for failing to report a work-related accident that occurred in April this year during tunnel construction for the Linear Central Shinkansen Line in Iida City.

The documents relate to Tokyo-based construction company Seiho Kensetsu and the company's 61-year-old foreman.

According to the Nagano Labour Bureau, on 20 April this year, at a tunnel construction site for the Linear Central Shinkansen in Iida City, a construction company worker was excavating the ground when a piece of concrete fell and hit him near his right shoulder.
The worker was diagnosed with a sprained vertebrae and required four weeks of rest and treatment.

However, the contractor did not report the injury until 15 May, almost a month after the accident, and the contractor and foreman are suspected of violating the OSH Act by failing to report the injury immediately. The following is a summary of the report.

On 14 May, Takayuki Mori, Head of the Supervision Section of the Labour Standards Division of the Nagano Labour Bureau, held a press conference in Nagano City and stated: Many workers are involved in the construction of the line, but there have been some accidents that raise safety concerns, so we will actively provide supervision and guidance.

The construction company told NHK that it was a fact that an accident had occurred, but that they could not say anything because they had not been able to confirm whether it had been documented or not.

JR Tokai also commented that it "regrets receiving reports that a subcontractor has been sent for documentary inspection".

Info based on translated news from NHK Japan https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/nagano/202 ... 27398.html Accessed 2023-07-14