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A view of Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA). (Photo: Hyundai Motor Group) |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] WASHINGTON, November 16 — The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has imposed a total of $27,618 in penalties on three Korea-affiliated companies in connection with the death of a Korean worker at the Hyundai–LG Energy Solution joint battery plant construction site in Georgia this past March.
According to an OSHA report, a Korean national identified as Mr. Yoo was killed on March 21 when he was run over by a forklift at the site. Investigators found that the subcontractor operating the forklift, Beyond Iron Construction, was driving heavy equipment at unsafe speeds without sounding warnings. The company was fined $16,550.
SBY America, the employer of the deceased worker, was fined $9,268 for failing to maintain a safe work environment around heavy equipment. The site’s general contractor, HL-Georgia Battery, received a $1,125 penalty for failing to submit required injury reports to the Labor Department over the past two years.
The plant, located within Hyundai’s Meta Plant complex, was also the site of a large-scale immigration raid on Korean workers on September 4. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that three construction workers have died at the project since 2022, and OSHA has recorded 11 injury cases at the Meta Plant site this year alone.
Local media note that repeated fatalities, injuries, and ongoing allegations of labor violations may have contributed to triggering the September enforcement action.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
