A worker was killed Saturday in an explosion at a shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. in the southeastern port city of Ulsan, police said.
The employee in his 50s, hired by a subcontractor, was cutting steel plates with oxy-fuel gas when the blast occurred at 7:48 a.m. at a plant of the world’s largest shipbuilder in the city, 415 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
He fell unconscious and was sent to a hospital, but he was declared dead, according to police. Other workers at the scene were not injured.
Police are investigating to determine the cause of the explosion.
About 30,000 employees of Hyundai Heavy and partner companies work at the shipyard in Ulsan.
The labor ministry ordered the shipbuilder to suspend work in the section where the accident occurred and began an inquiry into whether the company followed safety rules under the serious industrial accident act.
Under the law, owners and CEOs of companies with five or more employees can face a minimum one-year prison sentence or up to a fine of 1 billion won (US$819,830) in the event of accidents that cause death or serious injury.
The act went into effect on Jan. 27, with workplaces with less than 50 employees given a two-year grace period.
On Jan. 24, a Hyundai Heavy employee was killed after being crushed by steel plates while moving them using remote-controlled cranes.
Hyundai Heavy’s labor union issued a statement slamming the company over repeated accidents and calling for a thorough probe.
“The accident occurred because corrective measures were not taken despite frequent large and small explosion accidents.” the union said.
The union plans to file a complaint against the management and request the labor ministry suspend the entire work at the shipyard.
Hyundai Heavy expressed regret and vowed all-out efforts to prevent a recurrence.
“The company will cooperate with related agencies to determine the exact cause and details of the accident and will make every effort to come up with measures to prevent a recurrence,” Hyundai Heavy said in a press release.
Source: Yonhap News Agency