Due to a recent spate of safety incidents at shipyards, South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that, effective August 18, it would initiate high-level on-site supervision at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, equivalent to a special inspection.
On July 9, 18, and 24, shipyards under HD Hyundai Heavy Industries experienced three major workplace safety accidents within the same month, resulting in the deaths of three shipyard workers. In the wake of these fatal incidents, the company implemented a three-day “safety work stoppage” starting July 29 across all its facilities, including the Ulsan and Gunsan shipyards.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries plans to re-evaluate safety risks across all shipbuilding processes during the suspension and conduct comprehensive inspections of high-risk operations, safety and disaster-prevention facilities, and the on-site working environment. The company emphasized that to ensure safety inspections are substantive rather than merely perfunctory, the resumption of work on affected processes would be strictly restricted until all hazards are eliminated.
Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) and Labor stated that the on-site inspection would cover the Ulsan and Gunsan shipyards—where accidents had occurred—as well as the company’s headquarters and facilities designated as “ultra-high-risk” work sites; a total of 62 inspectors will be deployed to the locations to carry out the oversight.
According to reports, this on-site inspection aims not only to identify the direct causes of the frequent fatal crush and entrapment accidents but also to conduct a comprehensive review of compliance with core safety regulations regarding major safety incidents—such as collisions, falls, fires, explosions, and suffocation—as stipulated by South Korea’s Occupational Safety and Health Act.
The scope of this inspection includes the implementation of corrective measures following previous accidents at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, the operation of the safety and health management system at the headquarters level, and the actual effectiveness of risk assessments.
If any of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ actions are found to be in violation of the law, the MOEL stated that it will immediately take legal action and enforce a “zero-tolerance” policy; for areas requiring corrective measures, the ministry will provide strong guidance to the company and develop practical solutions.
A representative from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries stated, “We will cooperate fully with this investigation and spare no effort to prevent such accidents from occurring again.”
Earlier, in April and June, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries also experienced two other workplace accidents.
In April, a fire broke out on a submarine under repair at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Ulsan shipyard, resulting in the death of a subcontractor responsible for sea trials. At the time of the incident, the worker was cleaning the interior of the submarine.
In June, a rope-related safety incident occurred at HD Hyundai Samho when a mooring line used to secure a vessel to the dock suddenly snapped and struck a shipyard worker who was performing mooring operations, ultimately resulting in the worker’s death.