▲ Workplace fatalities (The photo above is not related to the article content.)
The number of workplace fatalities in the first half of this year fell to 253, a decrease of 34, or 11.8 percent, compared to a year ago, marking the lowest figure since the statistics were first compiled.
While fatalities also declined at small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, deaths in the manufacturing sector rose due to major accidents, such as the fire at Anjeon Gong-up in Daejeon and the explosion at Hanwha Aerospace.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the preliminary results of the "2026 First Half Industrial Accident Investigation and Fatality Status" on July 15.
The number of accident-related deaths subject to investigation in the first half of this year was 253 (across 232 cases), down 34, or 11.8 percent, from 287 (278 cases) during the same period last year.
The cumulative number of accident-related deaths for the first half of the year was also the lowest since statistics were first recorded in 2022.
Based on the first half of each year, the number of workplace fatalities was 320 in 2022, 289 in 2023, 296 in 2024, 287 last year, and 253 this year.
The decrease of 34 deaths marks the largest drop for the first half of the year on record.
Workplace fatalities also hit record lows across different business sizes.
Fatalities at small businesses with fewer than 50 employees (or construction projects worth less than 5 billion won) totaled 146, a decrease of 30, or 17.0 percent, from 176 a year ago.
In particular, fatalities at micro-businesses with fewer than 5 employees (or construction projects worth less than 500 million won) also fell by 21, or 23.9 percent, from 88 in the first half of last year to 67 this year.
Lee Min-jae, Director General of the Occupational Safety and Health Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Labor, analyzed, "It is significant that the decline was most pronounced in micro-businesses with fewer than 5 employees," adding, "The President's message on reducing industrial accidents, the government's preventive inspections, and collaboration with local governments have led to a decrease in fatalities at small, vulnerable workplaces."
Fatalities at businesses with 50 or more employees (or construction projects worth 5 billion won or more) stood at 107, a decrease of 4, or 3.6 percent, compared to 111 in the same period last year.
By industry, fatalities in the construction sector totaled 105, down 33, or 23.9 percent, from the previous year.
Although the number of construction sites increased from 900,000 in the first half of last year to 1.03 million in the first half of this year, the number of accident-related deaths actually decreased.
The Ministry of Labor explained that this is the result of the government's preventive and supervisory efforts combined with safety measures at sites, rather than a downturn in the construction industry.
Fatalities in other industries totaled 56, a decrease of 26, or 31.7 percent, from a year ago.
However, fatalities in the manufacturing sector rose from 67 in the first half of last year to 92 in the first half of this year, an increase of 25, or 37.3 percent.
This is due to frequent major fire accidents, such as the fire at Anjeon Gong-up in Daejeon in March, which claimed the lives of 14 employees, and the explosion at Hanwha Aerospace's Daejeon plant in June, which resulted in 5 deaths.
By type of accident, falls saw the largest decrease, with 84 deaths, down 45, or 34.9 percent, from the previous year.
Fatalities caused by getting caught in machinery totaled 22 in the first half of this year, down 5 (18.5 percent) from the previous year, while deaths from being struck by objects decreased by 1 (3.6 percent) to 27.
This means that fatalities from the three major conventional accident types—falls, being struck, and getting caught—all declined.
Nevertheless, fatalities from these three major conventional accidents still accounted for 52.6 percent of the total, remaining over half.
Deaths caused by being hit by objects also fell from 39 in the first half of last year to 25 in the first half of this year, a decrease of 14, or 35.9 percent.
On the other hand, fatalities from being crushed or overturned and from fires or explosions increased by 16 each compared to the same period last year, reaching 34 and 32, respectively.
Oh Young-min, Director of the Safety and Health Supervision Bureau at the Ministry of Labor, explained, "The increase in crushing and overturning accidents appears to be influenced by forklift rollovers," adding, "The rise in fires and explosions is largely due to the accidents at Anjeon Gong-up and Hanwha Aerospace's Daejeon plant."
Of the 253 workplace fatalities, 31 were foreign nationals, accounting for 12.3 percent.
To reduce workplace fatalities in the second half of the year, the government plans to strengthen inspections, focusing on preventing falls, manufacturing fires and explosions, and suffocation accidents in confined spaces.
First, the government will strengthen technical and financial support before operations for tasks prone to falls, which account for a high proportion of accidents, and will expand administrative and judicial measures when safety rule violations are detected to prevent falls during work.
For construction tasks where accidents occur continuously, such as roof work and work using hanging scaffolds, the government will manage these closely through regional associations and job posting sites.
In addition, the government will preemptively respond to seasonal risk factors by conducting on-site inspections to prepare for summer heatwaves and implementing measures to prevent heat-related illnesses.
To reduce fatalities in the manufacturing sector, the government will conduct inspections and audits of businesses with recurring fires and those handling military explosives.
Furthermore, the government will carry out intensive inspections of 200 sites focusing on the three major safety rules for preventing suffocation in confined spaces.
The Ministry of Labor's policy is to conduct inspections equivalent to special audits, including at headquarters, for companies where the same type of accident has occurred repeatedly.
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