hankyoreh

calling for Hyundai Heavy Industries to be responsible for eight deaths in two months by industrial accident at the company

Another person working at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan lost his life in an accident. This is the seventh fatality at the company this year, and all of the victims were employed by subcontractors. The news is prompting criticism that there is a serious problem with the company “outsourcing risk” and treating indirectly employed workers as expendable.

According to interviews with sources at the Ulsan office of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Hyundai Heavy Industry subcontractor chapter of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union, and the Ulsan Campaign for Banishing Industrial Accidents on Oct. 26, a man surnamed Ahn, 55, a subcontractor employee who was working for Hyundai Heavy Industry, was crushed under a falling piece of metal equipment on Oct. 23. Ahn was taken to Ulsan University Hospital, where he died on Oct. 25 at 3:50 pm.

The accident occurred on Oct. 23 around 5:30 pm. While a crane at H Dock in Hyundai Heavy Industry was being used to move a 3.5ton piece of equipment from a vehicle to the workspace floor, Ahn was giving signals on the ground. The equipment was still five meters above the ground when the sealing belt holding it up snapped, causing it to fall on Ahn. Ahn was gravely injured by the accident, shattering his shoulder, breastbone, and spine, and he was transferred to the hospital.

The subcontract union chapter and others claim that this was a “class-based accident” which would have been prevented if Ahn had not been a subcontract worker. When the accident occurred, the equipment was wrapped in a fabric sealing belt instead of with steel wire in order to protect it, and the belt snapped because no protective material had been put around the metal, sources say.

“You have to stick rubber tubing or other protective material onto the sharp parts of heavy objects so that the sealing belt doesn’t snap when it pulls tight. But they don‘t like for the signalers at subcontractors to spend time doing that kind of work. This tragic accident occurred because they rashly pushed ahead with the work even though the chief signaler wasn’t there,” said Jeong Dong-seok, chief of labor safety for the subcontract union chapter, in a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh on Oct. 26.

The Ulsan branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor also identified inadequate supervision and management and unfamiliarity with the work as the causes of the accident.

“The project in question - called the Goliath Project - was being done for the first time. For this reason, extra attention should have been given to supervision and management on the ground, but that didn‘t happen. As soon as the accident happened, we ordered them to suspend the project in question. We are planning to take measures including carrying out a review of working conditions depending on the results of our investigation,” said an official at the ministry branch.

This year, seven subcontract workers have lost their lives during six severe industrial accidents at Hyundai Heavy Industry alone. With all of these tragedies resulting from poor safety measures and education, criticism is being raised that subcontractor employees are being assigned to dangerous jobs.

When a scaffold collapsed on Mar. 25, three subcontract workers fell into the ocean and one of them drowned. After this accident, investigators found that the workers there had not been given safety instruction or even a work manual.

During a welding job on Apr. 21, an errant spark ignited toxic gas inside the ship, triggering an explosion that killed two workers and injured two others. At the time, the subcontractor claimed that it was so rushed trying to meet Hyundai’s tight schedule that it had been unable to take the necessary safety precautions.

“Subcontractor workers continue to lose their lives because Hyundai is assigning them to various dangerous jobs, such as indoor painting, which can cause an explosion, and scaffolding work, where there is the risk of falling. Despite this, the company is not even taking basic safety precautions. The nature of shipbuilding means that only the prime contractor can take care of safety supervision, but not a single person at Hyundai is taking responsibility for the string of accidents,” said Hyun Mi-hyang, secretary general for the Ulsan Campaign for Banishing Industrial Accidents.

By Jeon Jong-hwi, staff reporter

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