South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) today (26 March) issued a partial stop-work order on reinforcement work around Jeong Il Ulsan Container Terminal after a fatal accident on 25 March.
Two workers died when a container crane undergoing reinforcement work collapsed into the waters around 11.11 am local time. As the 65-metre crane, weighing 610 tonnes, fell, it hit three mobile structures that were involved in the works, killing the men who were on those structures. Both men were employed by a subcontractor and were pronounced dead after being conveyed to a hospital.
The work suspension covers the collapsed crane and two nearby cranes. These cranes move containers from the dock onto ships.
Located in the South Korean petrochemical hub, Ulsan is primarily catering to intra-Asia container traffic and has an annual container handling capacity of around 1.2 million TEUs.
Officers from the Korea Coast Guard’s Ulsan branch, MOEL and Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency inspected the site around 2 pm today, collecting data for investigations.
The Korea Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the accident with the person in charge of safety management at the site, and will conduct a joint inspection with the National Forensic Service’s representatives next week. It wants to determine if the Serious Accident Punishment Act was breached.
A spate of recent fatal industrial accidents in the country’s shipyards, such as Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, has cast the spotlight on safety management.