Surge in shipyard deaths sparks urgent calls for action
Police and firefighters inspect the yard of Kumkang Heavy Industries in Goseong County, South Gyeongsang Province, where two workers died from a fall off of a 123 ton structure, in this May 9 file photo. Courtesy of Gyeongsangnam-do Fire Department
Calls are growing for fundamental measures to be implemented to prevent the recurrence of fatal industrial accidents at shipyards, as worker deaths have increased rapidly this year amid soaring shipbuilding orders in recent years, according to industry officials, Friday.
As of Friday, reports indicated that at least 13 shipyard workers lost their lives in nine industrial accidents this year. In comparison, during the first five months of the previous year, it was reported that three shipyard workers died while at work.
Among the nine deaths reported this year, several accidents occurred at the shipyards of Korea’s three largest shipbuilders — HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Hanwha Ocean — rather than solely at small- and medium-sized shipyards.
In response, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Wednesday that it took a series of measures to make domestic shipyards safer.
“We plan to meet the owners of small- and medium-sized shipyards on May 21 and 23, offering emergency safety education for them until the end of this month,” the ministry said in a press release. “In addition, we will carry out a thorough inspection of shipbuilders on May 22.”
Between February and March, the ministry carried out a special labor inspection of Hanwha Ocean, as two fatal industrial accidents occurred at its shipyard within just two weeks in January. The shipbuilder is facing a fine, due to safety violations uncovered during the inspection.
Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik, sixth from left, poses with other participants at a signing ceremony to make domestic shipyards safer at LW Convention Center in Seoul in this April 22 file photo. Courtesy of Ministry of Employment and Labor
Unionized shipyard workers, however, complained about the government measures, claiming that they were not effective enough to prevent shipbuilders from outsourcing dangerous work and neglecting the necessary safety measures.
“Multilevel subcontracting has still remained at shipyards, amid the growing shipbuilding orders,” the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions’ members in the country’s southeastern region said in a recent press conference. “The increasing use of migrant workers is causing difficulties in communication and has also raised the risk of fatal accidents.”
One of the two workers who died from an explosion at Dae Sun Shipbuilding & Engineering on May 13 was a Vietnamese national. In addition, one of the two workers who died from a fall off of a 123 ton structure at Kumkang Heavy Industries on May 9 was a Cambodian national.
Asking major shipbuilders to take responsibility for industrial accidents that killed their subcontracted workers, the unionized shipyard workers also urged management to allow laborers to participate in safety inspections of their workplaces.
Safety guidelines written in six languages are put up on the wall of SK oceanplant's welding factory in Goseong County, South Gyeongsang Province, in this November 2023 file photo. Korea Times photo by Park Jae-hyuk
Experts agreed that shipbuilders should increase their investments in safety measures, as the inflow of inexperienced and migrant workers has increased rapidly amid the recent shipbuilding industry boom, which came several years after experienced shipyard workers left their workplaces during the previous recession.
A subcontracted diver, who died on May 9 while swimming to remove barnacles from ships at HD Hyundai Samho’s yard, was 22 years old. His death came seven months after he started working for the shipbuilder’s subcontractor.
“Multilevel subcontracting has actually been rare these days,” Korea Labor Institute research fellow Park Jong-shik said. “The Serious Accident Punishment Act’s enforcement in 2022 caused a shortage of competent safety managers as demand for them grew rapidly.”
The researcher added that it will take time to make domestic shipyards safer.
“Korean shipbuilders should have braced for the inflow of inexperienced workers, when they began to win more orders a few years ago,” Park said. “The companies also need to think about ways to convince skilled workers to stay.”
An official from one of Korea’s major shipbuilders said that it is difficult to make shipyards as safe as other manufacturing plants, considering the use of heavy machines and many workers working in high places.
“We have therefore regularly conducted safety education and checked the health of workers,” the official said.
HD Hyundai Samho even started teaching the cultures and languages of Vietnam, Nepal, Thailand and Uzbekistan to its Korean employees, so that they can better communicate with their foreign peers.