HL Mando's Pyeongtaek Plant Found to Have 138 Safety Violations Following Worker's Death by Crushing

A total of 138 violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act have been uncovered at the Pyeongtaek plant of automotive parts manufacturer HL Mando, following a fatal crushing accident involving a young subcontractor in his 20s.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced today (September 21) that inspections of HL Mando's Pyeongtaek plant and four subcontractors revealed 138 violations. Of these, 86 will be immediately referred for legal action, while fines totaling approximately 280 million won will be imposed for the remaining 52 violations.

At the main contractor, HL Mando's Pyeongtaek plant, a total of 125 violations were uncovered.

Among them, 78 involved breaches of safety and health regulations, with 26 cases (33.3%) specifically related to "crushing" hazards, which caused the recent fatal accident.

Major findings included operating equipment with safety guards disabled and failing to install conveyor crossover bridges.

Additionally, 52 violations of major disaster prevention rules concerning falls, electric shocks, and collisions were found, along with 3 instances of failing to take measures to prevent industrial accidents among subcontractor workers.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to immediately refer 81 of the violations at the Pyeongtaek plant for legal action and impose approximately 260 million won in fines for 44 violations.

At the four subcontractors, 13 violations were found, resulting in 5 referrals for legal action and fines of approximately 20 million won for 8 violations.

In the case of Piarodics, the subcontractor to which the deceased worker belonged, investigations showed that safety inspections and status checks were not conducted by a management supervisor during machinery maintenance work.

Other subcontractors were cited for failing to restrict access to prevent forklift collisions and failing to provide special safety training for workers handling benzene.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor ordered HL Mando's Pyeongtaek plant to establish comprehensive recurrence prevention measures, while also launching immediate inspections of HL Mando's Wonju and Iksan plants.

Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon emphasized, "Crushing accidents in manufacturing sites can be sufficiently prevented with basic safety guards. It is unacceptable for such accidents to occur even at major corporations, and the government's firm principle is that there is no distinction between main contractors and subcontractors when it comes to workers' lives."

Previously, at around 12:50 PM on July 22, the 28-year-old victim, surnamed Kim and belonging to a partner company, entered the plant to inspect a malfunctioning parts-processing machine when his upper body was caught between the machine and a wall, resulting in his death.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.