SOUTH Korea’s deputy labour minister has held an emergency meeting with the chief executives of the country’s major shipbuilders to address the prevention of accidents in the industry.

The meeting came a day after a fatal accident at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Ulsan shipyard, where a motorcyclist, also an employee of the company, was killed when a trailer turning right collided with his motorcycle.

According to the union, the worker was following the trailer from the right when the collision occurred. The person died after being sent to hospital.

An HD Hyundai Heavy official said: “Details of the accident are being investigated. We have expressed our deepest condolences to the bereaved families and are fully cooperating with the investigation.”

The company’s union called the incident “a serious disaster” and vowed to push for safer working conditions.

The country’s yard unions had previously claimed that employers’ rush to meet tight delivery deadlines due to increased order volumes was one of the key reasons leading to fatal accidents.

Addressing the broader safety concerns in the shipbuilding sector, Kim Min Seok, the vice-minister of the Ministry of Employment and Labour, highlighted a total of 20 shipbuilding-related deaths that occurred in 2024 alone.

Kim delivered four key directives to improve workplace safety to the top executives from HD Hyundai Heavy, Hanwha Ocean, Samsung Heavy Industries, HD HD Hyundai Samho and HD Hyundai Mipo.

He said the causes of recurring accidents in shipyards must be analysed, with best practices from other industries applied to improve safety. And with many accidents involving subcontracted workers, companies must establish and rigorously manage dedicated safety and health systems for subcontractors.

Meanwhile, as the number of foreign workers in the domestic shipbuilding industry has more than doubled from 4,084 in 2020 to 11,122 in 2024, four weeks of mandatory training programmes must be implemented to improve their skills and safety awareness.

Kim also noted shipbuilders must enhance social benefits and improve the working environment for subcontracted workers to ensure sustainable growth.

“The purpose of the meeting was to strengthen accident prevention measures in the shipbuilding industry, where serious industrial accidents frequently occur,” the ministry said in a statement.

“The government is committed to ensuring that workplace safety is prioritised, and we urge companies to take stronger actions to reduce fatalities.”