Hyundai Steel Worker Death Accident Again... Serious Accident Investigation Under the Serious Accident Punishment Act at Yesan Plant

Worker Death at Yesan Plant Following Dangjin Plant
Hyundai Steel Faces Consecutive Serious Accidents... Ministry of Employment and Labor Investigation

Members and bereaved families of the Korean Metal Workers' Union are condemning Hyundai Steel and the Daejeon Regional Office of the Ministry of Employment and Labor in front of Gate B at Hyundai Steel's Dangjin Plant in Chungnam on the 3rd, stating that a worker's death accident has occurred again due to inadequate safety measures without even safety railings and the failure to follow the two-person team work rule.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Another worker fatality occurred at Hyundai Steel within three days, prompting the Ministry of Employment and Labor to launch an investigation into violations of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 5th, at around 1:40 p.m. that day, an accident involving a steel frame structure collapse occurred at Hyundai Steel's Yesan Plant in Samgyo-eup, Yesan-gun, Chungnam Province, resulting in the death of one worker from a secondary subcontractor.

The Ministry immediately issued a work stoppage order for the plant after the accident and is currently investigating the cause of the accident as well as potential violations of the Industrial Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act at the site.

According to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which came into effect on January 27, business owners and management responsible for safety and health can be punished if a serious industrial accident occurs at workplaces with 50 or more regular employees (or construction projects worth 5 billion KRW or more) due to failure to secure safety and health.

Since Hyundai Steel's Yesan Plant falls under the scope of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, if violations by management or others are found later, the CEO may face imprisonment for more than one year or a fine of up to 1 billion KRW, and the corporation may be fined up to 5 billion KRW.

On the 2nd, Hyundai Steel also experienced a fatal accident at its Dangjin Steelworks 1 Cold Rolling Plant in Dangjin-si, Chungnam Province, where a regular employee of Hyundai Steel drowned in a 450-degree zinc liquid plating container.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor is also investigating whether there were violations of the Industrial Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act related to this accident.

Given the consecutive fatal accidents at Hyundai Steel, intensive investigations by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the police are expected.

The Metalworkers' Union recently held a press conference in front of the Dangjin Steelworks, stating, "Hyundai Steel is a representative workplace where serious accidents occur repeatedly every year, and despite special inspections last year, another accident happened," and pointed out, "In the past five years alone, six people have died from serious accidents at the Dangjin Plant."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.