 |
A view of HJ Heavy Industries’ Yeongdo Shipyard. (Photo courtesy of HJ Heavy Industries) |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] South Korean police and labor authorities conducted raids on HJ Heavy Industries and its subcontractors as part of a forced investigation into a fatal accident at a construction site for the Shinbundang Line extension, where a worker was killed after a concrete structure collapsed.
According to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency and the Gyeonggi Regional Office of Employment and Labor, investigators on Monday morning dispatched 38 officers to conduct search and seizure operations at four locations, including HJ Heavy Industries’ headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul; its on-site office in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province; the offices of subcontractor S Construction; and the supervising engineering firm. The raids took place 24 days after the fatal accident.
Authorities seized computers and documents related to project planning and safety management to determine whether there were violations of safety regulations. Investigators are examining whether the employer properly fulfilled its legal duty to comply with safety guidelines concerning the handling of concrete structures.
The accident occurred at approximately 4:25 p.m. on February 17 at a construction site for the Gwanggyo–Homaesil extension of the Shinbundang Line in Suwon. A worker in his 50s was crushed to death by a concrete structure measuring approximately 2 meters by 1.5 meters and weighing about 2 tons. The victim was employed by a subcontractor that had received the work through multiple layers of subcontracting originating from HJ Heavy Industries.
Police are investigating the case on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death, while the Ministry of Employment and Labor is pursuing charges under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. To date, one on-site manager each from HJ Heavy Industries and S Construction has been booked without detention.
Investigators noted that the case is being treated as particularly serious given HJ Heavy Industries’ history of major industrial accidents. The company was previously investigated as the contractor in November last year, following the collapse of a boiler tower at the Ulsan Thermal Power Plant operated by Korea East-West Power, an accident that resulted in nine casualties.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
