"Basic Rules Not Followed"... Ministry of Employment and Labor Detects 636 Safety Violations by HDC Hyundai Development Company

Ministry of Employment Announces Results of Special Inspection on HDC Hyundai Development
636 Violations Detected... Concerns Over Major Accidents
All Safety Managers at 12 Sites Booked for Investigation

Seoul Hyundai Development Company Headquarters [Photo by Yonhap News]

More than 600 safety violations were detected at 12 other large-scale construction sites managed by HDC Hyundai Development Company, which caused the exterior wall collapse accident at Gwangju Hwajeong I-Park last January. The Ministry of Employment and Labor, which conducted a special inspection, pointed out that "basic safety measures are not being followed" at HDC Hyundai Development Company, and took a strong response by filing charges against all safety managers at the 12 sites and imposing fines totaling 840 million KRW.

On the 16th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the results of the inspection conducted on 12 large-scale construction sites under construction by HDC Hyundai Development Company. This special inspection was carried out following the collapse accident at Hwajeong I-Park on January 11, which resulted in the deaths of six workers. The ministry formed inspection teams of more than 10 people for each site to investigate compliance with safety measures.

The investigation found a total of 636 violations (414 by primary contractors, 358 by subcontractors). The ministry took legal action on 306 cases and imposed fines of approximately 840 million KRW on 330 cases. The ministry explained, "Despite the timing being just before the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, overall safety management at the sites was found to be severely lacking."

In particular, it was found that even basic safety measures were not observed at most construction sites. According to the ministry, 261 violations related to safety measures such as safety railings and work platforms to prevent fatal falls were detected, and 19 cases of non-compliance with formwork support assembly?which could cause large-scale collapse accidents?and failure to implement risk prevention measures during ground excavation were also confirmed.

Additionally, 144 violations of basic obligations such as risk assessments, industrial accident reporting, and safety and health management expenses were detected, and 135 violations related to the performance of duties by safety and health management officers and safety and health management regulations were confirmed. Furthermore, 10 cases of poor implementation of hazardous and risk prevention plans, which identify and manage risk factors in advance to prevent major accidents, were also detected.

HDC Hyundai Development Company Gwangju Hwajeong I-Park Collapse Site [Image Source=Yonhap News]

Following the inspection results, the Ministry of Employment and Labor is investigating all safety and health management officers at the 12 sites by filing charges. The headquarters has been notified to establish a safety and health management system that actually operates on-site, led by the CEO. Since overall safety was inadequate, additional planned inspections will be conducted to verify whether the safety and health management system is functioning properly in the future.

Kwon Ki-seop, Director of the Occupational Safety and Health Headquarters at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, stated, "Establishing a paper-based safety and health management system that does not operate on-site is meaningless," and pointed out, "It is necessary for HDC Hyundai Development Company's headquarters to ensure that the safety and health management system they have established is actually functioning on-site and that related laws are strictly followed."

Earlier, the Construction Accident Investigation Committee under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 14th that the Hwajeong I-Park collapse accident was a 'man-made disaster caused by comprehensive illegalities and management failures.' It was found that reckless structural changes, premature removal of temporary supports (dongbari) that bear loads, poor-quality concrete, and inadequate supervision all acted in combination.

Kim Young-guk, Director of the Technical Safety Policy Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "The incident is serious and there are significant concerns about recurrence," adding, "We plan to impose the strictest penalties as stipulated by law." Since HDC Hyundai Development Company also caused 17 casualties in the collapse accident at the Gwangju Hakdong 4 redevelopment demolition site in June last year, the industry expects that the company could face business suspension for up to 1 year and 8 months or even deregistration.

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