Korea’s shipbuilding and steelmaking industries power the nation’s exports and global standing. But inside the giant shipyards and steel mills, workers still fall, burn and die at alarming rates.

On May 17, a subcontracted worker in their 40s stepped onto an unsecured maintenance hole inside a vessel under construction at HD Hyundai Samho in Yeongam, South Jeolla. The worker fell 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) and died four days later in a hospital.
In March, a worker in their 20s working for a subcontractor at Hyundai Steel’s plant in Pohang, North Gyeongsang, plunged into a furnace slag pit from a height of 10 meters and died. At Posco’s facility in Gwangyang, South Jeolla, last month, one subcontracted worker died and two others were injured while dismantling a dust collection pipe.

A former subcontracted worker at a steel mill told the JoongAng Ilbo, “Inside a steel mill, one wrong step can mean falling onto hot metal.”

High-risk jobs’
Shipbuilding and steelmaking, two of Korea’s core manufacturing industries, see frequent accidents. Like construction, they involve high heat and high-altitude work, often more than two meters above the ground. Workers handle molten metal, heavy steel parts and large machinery.

At the same worksites, employees of main contractors, subcontractors and outside firms mix together, creating wide differences in safety standards and awareness. Labor shortages have also increased reliance on foreign workers with limited Korean language ability.

A total of 187 manufacturing workers died in industrial accidents last year, second only to the 328 casualties of the construction industry, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

Within manufacturing, the category including steel and metal products accounted for 93 deaths. Shipbuilding followed with 15. However, shipbuilding’s accident rate — 2.63 percent — was more than three times the average for manufacturing of 0.8 percent. The accident rate in the machinery, metal and nonmetal mineral sector also remained high at 1.02 percent.

Safety sacrificed for deadlines
Korea’s shipbuilding industry secured the world’s second-largest order volume last year, while steel output ranked sixth globally. But critics say companies have prioritized cost-cutting and tight delivery schedules above safety.

In particular, experts said shipbuilding — an industry whose technological strength once helped Korea in trade negotiations with the United States — now needs investment to reduce the risk of industrial accidents.

Between January 2024 and March 2025, 1,139 workers in shipbuilding suffered accidents or illnesses, according to Labor Ministry data submitted to Rep. Park Jeong of the Democratic Party. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries accounted for 308 accidents, and Hanwha Ocean recorded 328. On average, each company saw at least one accident nearly every working day, with monthly averages of 20.5 and 21.9 cases, respectively.

Experts trace the roots of the problem to the industry’s low-cost model. Korean shipbuilding grew rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s by undercutting Japanese rivals on labor costs and speed. But long downturns since the late 2000s have slashed investment in safety. Subcontracting expanded, and so did reliance on foreign and temporary workers.

During a special inspection from February to March of last year, the Labor Ministry found 61 violations at Hanwha Ocean’s shipyard in Geoje, South Gyeongsang, including missing guardrails and inadequate fall protection. The ministry fined Hanwha Ocean 2.65 billion won ($1.9 million).

“The older the shipyard’s construction facilities, the more likely it is that they lack even basic safety equipment,” said Yang Jong-seo, a senior researcher at the Export-Import Bank of Korea.

In response, a Hanwha Ocean spokesperson said, “Before and after the special inspection, we carried out in-depth reviews with outside experts and are implementing improvement measures.”

Outsourcing deaths down the chain
The structure of shipbuilding, where tens of thousands of workers are divided across different production stages, has also drawn criticism for its reliance on in-house subcontracting.

Of 51,000 production workers in the shipbuilding industry, only about 21.5 percent, are direct employees, according to a 2022 Labor Ministry survey. Subcontract workers handle most high-risk jobs.

A subcontract worker at a shipyard told the JoongAng Ilbo that full-time employees usually avoid dangerous jobs.

“Full-time employees rarely get assigned to work at high altitudes, such as painting, piping and working on external structures,” the worker said.

Industry insiders say conditions worsen when subcontractors pass projects to “volume teams,” informal groups of day laborers hired at even lower rates.

“Tight deadlines and the lowest-cost contracts make companies turn to volume teams,” said Jung Heung-jun, a business professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology.

Accidents are also common in steel plants when subcontractors perform cleaning, maintenance and repair work on complex machinery.

“Subcontract workers often lack a full understanding of the equipment, which makes accidents more likely,” said Park Jong-shik, a research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute.

Experts said that given how deeply the contractor–subcontractor system is entrenched in these industries, improvements are needed in subcontracting practices, on worksites and in how companies respond to hazardous situations.

“Resubcontracting should only be allowed as an exception under stricter regulation,” said Jung.

Some experts argue for more joint safety committees where contractors and subcontractors must coordinate, noting that smaller firms often lack the capacity to manage safety effectively. Others warn that large firms cannot realistically manage all workplace conditions across small subcontractors.

Kim Tae-gu, a professor of occupational health and safety engineering at Inje University, said policymakers should create incentives.

“The more companies invest in safety, the better they can perform. That needs to be recognized and supported,” Kim said.

Companies now promise improvements under government pressure. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries said it began enforcing a “zero tolerance” policy on Monday on violations of nine safety rules covering falls and crushing accidents. Hanwha Ocean said it will invest 2 trillion won in safety measures by 2026.
Source: Korea JoongAng Daily