Trouble with subcontracting! Samsung Heavy Industries Geoje shipyard shuts down
2017-05-04 09:00
Affected by crane Affected by the collapse accident, the Busan Regional Employment and Labor Office has requested Samsung Heavy Industries Geoje Shipyard to temporarily suspend all operations, and the suspension order will last for two weeks. Samsung Heavy Industries' extensive use of subcontracted workers, leading to chaotic safety management, has become a major cause of this accident.
On May 1, at Samsung Heavy Industries Geoje Shipyard's Pier 7, an 800-ton gantry crane collided with a tower crane over 50 meters high and weighing 32 tons. The tower crane subsequently collapsed, crushing an approximately 20-meter high offshore platform module under construction. The accident resulted in 6 deaths and 25 injuries, and the death toll may continue to rise.
Local police stated that due to conflicting witness testimonies, the exact cause of the accident cannot yet be determined, but the preliminary judgment is that it was caused by a violation of safety rules. Kim Hyo-seop, head of Samsung Heavy Industries Geoje Shipyard, stated that the accident was caused by improper signaling between the crane operator and the signal person.
All casualties in this accident were employees of Samsung Heavy Industries' subcontracting companies. Local workers said that at shipyard work sites with more hazardous tasks, the shipyard's regular employees usually handle safer management duties, while all dangerous work is left to subcontracted workers.
Photo: Among the workers operating at Geoje Shipyard on May 1, approximately 1,000 were regular employees, while about 12,000 were subcontracted workers. The number of subcontracted workers was 12 times that of Samsung Heavy Industries' regular employees.
However, suggestions made by subcontracted employees regarding on-site safety issues were difficult to adopt. An employee from another Samsung Heavy Industries' subcontracting company stated that even if subcontracted workers pointed out the dangers of on-site operating methods, it would not be accepted by Samsung Heavy Industries; for cost and time considerations, repeatedly proposed improvement suggestions were ignored by Samsung Heavy Industries.
The accident occurred with an offshore platform module for the Norwegian Martin Linge development project, built by Samsung Heavy Industries for France's Total company. This platform was ordered in December 2012, valued at 500 million US dollars, and was originally scheduled for delivery to Total next month. At the time of the incident, to ensure on-time delivery, workers had to continue working during the May Day holiday.
Samsung Heavy Industries confirmed that among the workers operating at Geoje Shipyard on May 1, approximately 1,000 were regular employees, while about 12,000 were subcontracted workers. The number of subcontracted workers was 12 times that of Samsung Heavy Industries' regular employees. However, ordinarily, Samsung Heavy Industries has about 5,000 regular employees engaged in production work and about 25,000 subcontracted employees, a ratio of 1 to 5. During the May Day holiday, most regular Samsung Heavy Industries employees were on vacation, while the proportion of subcontracted employees, who have weaker safety management, was more than twice the usual, which led to the accident.
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