Seoul: President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday instructed his aides to come up with measures to impose a tougher punishment on POSCO E and C Co. over repeated fatal industrial accidents at workplaces of the construction firm.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee also ordered a full investigation into the industrial accidents and to report all legally possible measures, including revoking the company's construction license and excluding the company from public bidding, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung told reporters.
So far this year, four workers have died at workplaces managed by POSCO E and C and another worker was killed at a POSCO steel mill in Gwangyang, about 290 kilometers south of Seoul. POSCO E and C is a subsidiary of POSCO, the nation's top steelmaker.
In the latest industrial accident involving POSCO E and C, a Myanmar worker in his 30s was critically injured in a suspected electrocution accident at an expressway construction site in Gwangmyeong, 20 km south of the capital, on Monday. He has yet to regain consciousness.
During a Cabinet meeting last Tuesday, Lee specifically named POSCO E and C, saying fatal workplace incidents could be seen as "murder by willful negligence."
POSCO has launched a company-wide special safety task force aimed at strengthening safety management across all operations after the meeting.