Worker's death could tarnish Samsung Engineering's image abroad

A view of Samsung Electronics' chip factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province / Yonhap

Namkoong Hong, president and CEO of Samsung Engineering / Courtesy of Samsung Engineering

Samsung Engineering may face a tarnished corporate image after a subcontracted employee fell to his death while working at a construction site for Samsung Electronics’ chip factory, according to industry officials, Wednesday.

The incident is widely expected to put a damper on Samsung Engineering’s move to generate more overseas revenues in the face of a slump in the domestic construction industry amid prolonged high interest rates.

There stands an ample possibility for the firm’s top management to face a prison sentence of at least one year or a fine of less than 1 billion won ($764,000), according to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act which took effect on January 2022.

Industry officials said any construction firms mired in such accidents may have their brand image tainted and experience losses stemming from delayed construction.

“Typically, construction firms have to suspend their construction when a hired laborer dies on site, which is period of about one to three months, even if this is not the case for the latest incident from Samsung Engineering,” an official from a local construction firm said on condition of anonymity.

“On top of that, a tarnished brand image is also feared to cast a negative influence when they are trying to secure future orders here and abroad,” he said.

The 50-something worker lost his life after falling from a semiconductor factory construction site for Samsung Electronics in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor launched an investigation into the incident, dispatching labor supervisors to the construction site. According to the authority, Samsung Engineering will face stern punishment if found to have violated any safety regulations.

A spokesman at the company said it will cooperate with the investigation by the authority.

“We will make efforts to deal with the incident and come up with measures to prevent a recurrence,” a company official said.

The firm said it suspended work on the site immediately after the incident occured and carried out safety inspections of all of its ongoing construction projects here.

The spokesman said “Samsung Engineering regrets the accident," noting that the company had conducted safety checks.

Labor workers’ dying while working on construction sites has emerged as a serious social issue in recent years. In November last year, the head of a local construction firm received a prison term of one year with probation for two years for the first time after the act came into force.

The ruling came after a labor worker at the firm’s construction site fell to death while working without wearing a safety helmet. The company faced the penalty for not properly providing safety equipment to its workers.