South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor will begin high-level on-site supervision at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries from 18 August after three fatal workplace accidents occurred at the company’s shipyards in July.
The supervision, described as equivalent to a special inspection, will cover the Ulsan and Gunsan shipyards, the company’s headquarters and facilities designated as ultra-high-risk work sites. A total of 62 inspectors will be deployed.
Three shipyard workers died in separate accidents on 9, 18 and 24 July at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries facilities.
Following the accidents, the company introduced a three-day safety work stoppage from 29 July across all of its facilities, including the Ulsan and Gunsan shipyards.
During the suspension, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries planned to reassess safety risks throughout its shipbuilding processes and inspect high-risk operations, safety and disaster-prevention facilities and working conditions. Work on affected processes would remain restricted until safety hazards were eliminated.
The ministry will examine the causes of fatal crush and entrapment accidents and review compliance with key safety requirements covering collisions, falls, fires, explosions and suffocation under South Korea’s Occupational Safety and Health Act.
The inspection will also assess whether corrective measures following previous accidents have been implemented, how the company’s safety and health management system operates at headquarters level, and whether risk assessments are effective.
The ministry said it would take legal action if violations are identified and require corrective measures where necessary.
A representative of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries said the company would cooperate fully with the investigation and work to prevent similar accidents from recurring.
A separate fatal accident occurred at the company’s Ulsan shipyard in April. A fire broke out on a submarine undergoing repairs while a subcontractor responsible for sea trials was cleaning inside the vessel, resulting in the worker’s death.
Another fatal accident occurred at HD Hyundai Samho in June. A mooring line used to secure a vessel to the dock snapped during mooring operations and struck a shipyard worker, resulting in the worker’s death.
