English translation of the original Korean report. Images and source documents may contain Korean text.

As worker fatalities continue to occur at construction sites across South Korea and government inspections expose shortcomings in safety management at some major construction companies, Bando Engineering & Construction has maintained a record of zero serious industrial accidents for seven consecutive years, according to company statements, highlighting differences in safety management practices across the industry.

According to Bando Engineering & Construction on the 13th, the company held a meeting that day at Ivy Lounge in Dongtan 2 New Town, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, attended by construction site managers from across the country and headquarters executives and employees, to share management standards for safety, construction and customer service (CS), as well as measures to prevent accidents during severe winter weather.

Bando Engineering & Construction says it recorded zero serious industrial accidents for seven consecutive years from 2019 through 2025 and is continuing efforts this year to strengthen its response system by inspecting site-specific hazards, conducting safety checks before and during work, and immediately addressing identified risks.

In particular, the company conducted eight rounds of specialized training covering different construction processes this year, along with visits to building-material production factories, and has focused on reducing differences in management practices among sites by standardizing customer service procedures from defect reporting through repair completion and follow-up management.

Lee Jeong-ryeol, Representative in charge of the Construction Division at Bando Engineering & Construction, said, “We will make every effort to raise the quality and management standards of all our construction sites to a consistent level by carrying out operations based on common standards that both headquarters and site personnel can understand, agree on and comply with.”

■ Construction Site Fatalities Continue Despite Emphasis on Preventing Serious Industrial Accidents

Despite these efforts to strengthen safety management, fatalities continue to occur across the construction industry. According to provisional statistics on fatal accidents subject to investigation released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on October 20, construction industry fatalities totaled 150 through the third quarter of this year, down 60, or 28.6%, from 210 during the same period a year earlier.

At an apartment construction site operated by Hyundai Engineering in Mulgeum-eup, Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, a subcontractor’s signaler in his 50s died on the 9th after being struck by a reversing ready-mix concrete truck on the 6th. The Ministry of Employment and Labor and police are investigating the circumstances of the accident and whether relevant laws were violated.

Hyundai Engineering received an eight-month business suspension order from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 11th in connection with the collapse of a bridge on the Seoul–Sejong Expressway in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, in February last year, which killed four workers and injured six others. With the suspension scheduled to take effect in January 2027, the company plans to respond by seeking a stay of enforcement and filing a lawsuit to overturn the administrative penalty.

At a Shinansan Line double-track railway construction site operated by POSCO E&C in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, a subcontracted worker also died after falling approximately 15 meters on June 9. The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced plans for a strong response, including targeted inspections of the company’s headquarters and construction sites nationwide.

Earlier, on January 20, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the results of its 2025 occupational safety and health inspections of POSCO E&C, stating that it had identified 403 violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act across 55 construction sites nationwide and the company’s headquarters.

As construction companies show contrasting records in preventing serious industrial accidents and experiencing repeated fatalities, the extent to which safety management systems are implemented at construction sites and their effectiveness in preventing accidents are emerging as key criteria for evaluating the construction industry.