Eight of 11 Companies Reporting Repeated Serious Accidents Are Construction Firms

Construction workers at a building site in Seoul (Yonhap) More than 7 in 10 companies that reported three or more serious workplace accidents to South Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labor over a 21-month period were construction firms, according to newly released data. Despite the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act to strengthen workplace safety, fatal incidents continue to recur, particularly at major construction companies. According to an analysis released on Oct. 21 by CEO Score, a corporate data research institute, 99 companies reported serious accidents from January 2025 through September 2026, accounting for 147 reports in total. Eleven companies reported three or more incidents and were classified as high-risk, with eight of them, or 72.7%, operating in the construction sector. Hyundai Engineering & Construction and POSCO E&C tied for first place, each reporting six serious accidents. At POSCO E&C, the reported incidents resulted in six deaths and three injuries. Three fatal accidents were reported at the Sinansan Line double-track railway construction site, in April and December 2025 and June 2026. Hyundai Engineering & Construction also recorded seven casualties across its six reports, including six fatalities and one injury. At the Shaheen ethylene facility construction site, a worker was caught in a soil collapse in June 2026, followed by a fatal fall in September, marking repeated accidents at the same site. The scale of the harm was also significant. Hyundai Engineering reported three accidents during the survey period, resulting in six deaths and seven injuries, or 13 casualties in total — the highest number among the 11 companies identified as high-risk. The toll was largely driven by a bridge collapse at a Seoul-Sejong Expressway construction site that resulted in 10 casualties in a single incident. HJ Shipbuilding & Construction recorded the highest number of fatalities among individual companies, with nine deaths across its three reported incidents. Outside the construction sector, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Kia each reported four serious accidents, highlighting workplace safety risks in other major industrial businesses. The analysis attributed accidents to the primary companies responsible for the worksites, including cases involving affiliates, subsidiaries and subcontractors. However, the figures are based on accident occurrence reports submitted by companies to the Ministry of Employment and Labor and may differ from the final number of cases legally confirmed as serious accidents. Some cases reported by HL D&I and KCC E&C were subsequently excluded after ministry investigations determined that the deaths resulted from personal medical conditions. Under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, employers must report incidents to the relevant authorities without delay when they involve at least one fatality or meet specified thresholds for serious injuries. 비지니스코리아 businesskorea (Businesskorea)