Exclusive3 Years of Serious Accidents Punishment Act
Last year, accident victims at top 10 construction firms reached a 5-year high

[비즈한국] Once again, a worker who headed to a construction site today did not return home. The construction industry remains the sector with the highest number of fatal accidents in Korea. To prevent tragic accidents where workers lose their lives due to a failure to fulfill safety and health obligations, our society enacted the Act on Punishment of Serious Accidents, etc. (Serious Accidents Punishment Act), which went into full effect in January 2022. However, the number of workers losing their lives at construction sites each year remains in the triple digits. What efforts must our society make to reduce fatalities at construction sites?

According to an investigation by BizHankook, there were 2,571 industrial accident victims at the top 10 domestic construction firms (based on construction capability) last year, marking the highest figure in the last five years. While the number of workers who died in accidents at these top 10 firms dropped sharply to 10 in 2023, the downward trend failed to continue, with the figure rising again to 21 last year. Despite the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, the number of accident victims at the industry-leading top 10 construction firms is actually on the rise.

Accident victims at 5-year high, fatalities doubled compared to previous year

According to the status of industrial accidents at the top 10 construction firms (based on the approval date for Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service) obtained by BizHankook through the office of Representative Lee Hak-young of the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee, there were a total of 2,571 accident victims at these firms in 2024, an increase of 246 (11%) compared to 2023. The number of fatal accidents was 21, an increase of 11 (110%) from the previous year. "Accident victims" include both the deceased and the injured due to work-related accidents, while "fatal accidents" refer specifically to the number of deaths among them.

The number of accident victims at the top 10 construction firms last year was the highest in the last five years. The number of victims, which stood at 1,460 in 2020, grew steadily to 1,526 in 2021, 1,751 in 2022, 2,325 in 2023, and 2,571 in 2024. The average accident rate (proportion of victims per 100 workers) at these firms is also on an upward trend: 0.4% in 2020, 0.48% in 2021, 0.54% in 2022, 0.77% in 2023, and 1.07% in 2024. This means that 1 out of every 100 workers at these construction sites suffered a work-related injury.

The number of fatalities at the top 10 firms also more than doubled compared to the previous year. The number of deaths increased steadily from 17 in 2020 to 26 in 2021 and 27 in 2022, before dropping sharply to 10 in 2023, the year after the Serious Accidents Punishment Act was implemented. However, the downward trend could not be sustained, and the figure increased 2.1-fold to 21 last year. The average rate of fatalities per 10,000 workers at these firms showed a similar trend: 0.38% in 2020, 0.64% in 2021, 0.71% in 2022, 0.24% in 2023, and 0.58% in 2024.

Daewoo E&C has most accident victims, Hyundai E&C has most fatalities

Among the top 10 construction firms, Daewoo E&C047040 recorded the highest number of accident victims over the past five years. A total of 1,931 victims were recorded at Daewoo E&C, with 223 in 2020, 278 in 2021, 381 in 2022, 553 in 2023, and 496 in 2024. The number of accident victims at other firms followed as: GS E&C006360 with 1,390, Hyundai E&C000720 with 1,239, Lotte E&C with 961, SK Ecoplant with 884, Samsung C&T028260 with 837, Hyundai Engineering with 676, DL E&C with 649, POSCO E&C with 567, and HDC Hyundai Development Company294870 with 499.

Over the past five years, Hyundai E&C recorded the highest number of fatalities. A total of 17 deaths were recorded at Hyundai E&C, including 3 in 2020, 5 in 2021, 5 in 2022, 2 in 2023, and 2 in 2024. The number of fatalities at other firms were: Lotte E&C with 15, Daewoo E&C with 14, DL E&C with 13, Hyundai Engineering with 9, GS E&C with 8, HDC Hyundai Development Company with 8, SK Ecoplant with 7, Samsung C&T with 5, and POSCO E&C with 5. Samsung C&T, which had the lowest number of total casualties, was the only firm among the top 10 to record zero fatalities over the last two years.

Representative Lee Hak-young stated, "It has been three years since the Serious Accidents Punishment Act was implemented, yet the number of victims at construction sites is actually increasing. We need a thorough inspection to see if laws and systems are functioning properly in the field and whether companies are faithfully fulfilling their safety obligations." He added, "Complementary measures must be prepared to increase the effectiveness of the system so that the purpose of the law is realized on site and construction workers can return home safely."