Increase in Both Number of Deaths and Fatalities in Construction Industry Over 5 Billion Won

Ministry of Employment Announces Preliminary Results on Fatal Accident Investigations
As of End of September, Total Fatalities Decreased by 51... Mainly in Cases Under 5 Billion Won

Although the number of fatal accidents subject to disaster investigation decreased up to the third quarter this year, both the number of deaths and fatal accidents in the construction industry with over 5 billion KRW in scale increased.

On the 6th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the provisional results of the additional statistics on industrial accident status as of the end of September 2023 (status of fatal accidents subject to disaster investigation) containing this information.

According to this, the cumulative number of fatal accidents subject to disaster investigation in the third quarter was 459 deaths (449 cases), a decrease of 51 deaths (10.0%) and 34 cases (7.0%) compared to 510 deaths (483 cases) in the same period last year.

By industry, the construction industry recorded 240 deaths (235 cases), down by 13 deaths (8 cases) compared to the same period last year; manufacturing had 123 deaths (121 cases), down by 20 deaths (15 cases); and others had 96 deaths (93 cases), down by 18 deaths (11 cases).

By scale, those under 5 billion KRW had 267 deaths (261 cases), a decrease of 41 deaths (42 cases) compared to the same period last year. Fatalities in accidents in the 5 billion KRW or more category decreased by 10 to 192 deaths, while the number of fatal accident cases increased by 8 to 188 cases.

By type, falls, entrapments, and crushing/overturning decreased compared to the same period last year, but collisions and being struck by objects increased.

An official from the Ministry of Employment and Labor said, "The overall trend of decreasing fatal accidents continues due to the reduction in large-scale accidents (with two or more deaths) and general economic conditions. However, due to a significant increase in fatal accidents in medium and large construction companies, both the number of deaths and fatal accident cases in the construction industry over 5 billion KRW increased following the first half of the year."

In fact, for the construction industry over 5 billion KRW, the cumulative number of deaths in the third quarter this year was 97, an increase of 15 deaths (18.3%) compared to 82 deaths in the same period last year, and the number of fatal accident cases increased by 21 cases (28.4%) from 74 to 95 during the same period.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor official added, "We will focus our capabilities on establishing risk assessments so that self-regulatory prevention systems can operate smoothly at worksites in the future. In particular, during the remaining period of this year, we will do our best to prevent accidents at construction sites by intensively inspecting the construction industry on 'Site Inspection Days'."

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