A SOUTH Korean worker died at Samsung Heavy Industries’ Geoje shipyard on May 27 after becoming stuck while carrying out repairs to a monorail crane. He was rushed to hospital immediately after the incident, but later died of his injuries.

The worker was not a Samsung Heavy subcontractor, but an employee of another external company, as the original subcontractor hired by Samsung for the repair had hired another subcontractor.

On the day of the accident, the shipbuilder announced in a stock exchange filing that production at its Geoje shipyard would stop from 1500 hrs to 1700 hrs to allow for special safety training aimed at preventing serious accidents. The shipyard resumed production the next day.

Immediately following the accident, the Ministry of Employment and Labour and the police were sent to the scene to investigate and determine the cause.

The authorities are reviewing whether South Korea’s Serious Accident Punishment Act applies.

According to the Act, a serious disaster is defined as an industrial accident resulting in one or more fatalities, two or more injuries lasting more than six months, or three or more cases of occupational disease within a year.

For neglecting the duty of health and safety resulting in one or more deaths, business owners or managers may face imprisonment for more than one year or a fine of up to Won1bn ($720,000).

In a statement, the Geoje office of Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice said: “A careful scrutiny of whether work standards and principles were adhered to, as well as whether a real-time monitoring of crane operation status was conducted, is needed.”

A Samsung Heavy official told Lloyd’s List: “As the details of the accident are currently under investigation, it’s difficult to comment separately.”