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View of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' Ulsan shipyard. The Ministry of Employment and Labor has launched an intensive inspection, equivalent to a special inspection, targeting HD Hyundai Heavy Industries following a series of recent fatal accidents involving workers being caught in machinery. / Yonhap

After two subcontracted workers died in caught-in-machinery accidents at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries within a week, the government has launched an intensive inspection equivalent to a special inspection. About 60 personnel, including labor inspectors and Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency staff, will examine safety management systems not just at the shipyards but at the company's headquarters as well.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 18th that it began the intensive inspection targeting HD Hyundai Heavy Industries that day. The inspection covers the Ulsan and Gunsan shipyards where the accidents occurred, the company's headquarters, and a plant designated as a high-risk workplace earlier this year. A total of 62 personnel, including inspectors from the relevant regional and district labor offices and staff from the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, will take part.

The inspection comes in response to a repeated pattern of similar fatal accidents. On the 18th of last month, a subcontracted worker in his 20s, a Uzbek national, died at the Ulsan shipyard after being caught between a gondola and an upper structure while working in the cargo hold of an LNG carrier. Six days later, on the 24th, a subcontracted worker in his 30s died at the Gunsan shipyard after being caught between a structure and work equipment.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor will examine not only the recurring caught-in-machinery accidents but also compliance with core safety protocols for serious industrial accidents, including collisions, falls, fires and explosions, and asphyxiation, as well as overall compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act. It also plans to check whether improvement measures implemented after previous accidents are actually being followed on-site, and to assess the effectiveness of the company's headquarters-level safety and health management system and risk assessments.

Any legal violations identified during the inspection will be immediately referred for criminal prosecution. The ministry said it does not intend to stop with this inspection alone, and will conduct a follow-up inspection afterward to verify that improvement measures continue to be implemented.

Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon said, "Recurring serious accidents of the same type demonstrate that a company's safety management system is not functioning properly," adding, "We will take a zero-tolerance approach toward companies where the same type of serious accident occurs repeatedly."

                                                                                                           Kim Nam-hyung