Industrial accidents are continuing at major HD Hyundai (267250) affiliates despite repeated instructions from Chairman Chung Ki-sun to make safety management the top priority.
According to a serious-accident disclosure filed by HD Hyundai Electric (267260) on the 20th, a worker in his 40s, identified only as A, died after falling at a construction site for a new transformer plant operated by subsidiary HD Hyundai Plaspo at 8:52 a.m. on the 19th. A fell about 20 meters and was taken to a hospital in cardiac arrest but did not survive. A was moving equipment in a testing room at the plant under construction when the worker fell through an opening in the floor. Police are investigating the exact circumstances of the accident.
After the accident, HD Hyundai partially suspended work at the site under an order from the Ulsan East Branch Office of the Busan Regional Employment and Labor Office. "We pray for the repose of the deceased who lost their life in this tragic accident and offer our deepest condolences to the bereaved family," an HD Hyundai Electric official said. "We will actively cooperate with investigations by the relevant authorities and do our utmost to manage the aftermath and prevent a recurrence."
The problem is that such fatal industrial accidents are widespread across HD Hyundai affiliates. At HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, the group's flagship unit alone, at least five fatal accidents have occurred this year.
On April 9, a subcontractor worker died in a fire that broke out on a submarine undergoing overhaul. On July 18, a migrant worker was crushed between a gondola and scaffolding. On the 24th of the same month, a subcontractor worker fitting an H-beam was crushed between a fitting machine and a lug. On Aug. 14, a worker who had been receiving hospital treatment after being struck by a reversing trailer at the Yongyeon plant died. On Aug. 28, a worker was found collapsed in a basement machine room at the Hanwoori Hall and was taken to a hospital but could not be saved.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor has also stepped in. In an intensive inspection in August and September involving about 50 inspectors, the ministry identified 859 violations. The inspection led to corrective orders and judicial action, and fines totaling 464.6 million won were also notified. In response, HD Hyundai tightened its push for "zero serious accidents" in an early round of senior executive appointments in the middle of this month, promoting Cho Min-soo, executive vice president of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and a longtime veteran of shipbuilding sites, to president and chief executive in charge of safety.
In upcoming executive appointments, personnel and organizational overhauls are expected at other core affiliates such as HD Hyundai Electric and HD Hyundai Construction Equipment, following HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, including an elevation in the rank of the chief safety officer (CSO). At a group presidents' meeting convened in August, Chung said: "The future we dream of can only be completed when safety is guaranteed." He repeatedly urged executives to "place safety as the top priority in management and concentrate our capabilities on it."