One person was killed as a result of a work-related accident at the Geoje shipyard of South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) on Monday, December 22.
The victim, who has been identified as a male employee of an SHI subcontractor, was preparing to commence dust removal works on a crude oil tanker when he suddenly fell from a height of 21 metres at around 15:00 local time on Monday.
The individual was rushed to hospital but unfortunately expired while undergoing treatment.
SHI Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Choi Sung-an has since issued a statement apologising for, "failing to fulfil...safety management responsibilities and causing great concern to all relevant people."
SHI meanwhile implemented a complete shutdown of all activities on the ship involved in Monday's incident. The company has also begun conducting special safety briefings for all personnel.
Mr Choi promised that SHI, "will make every effort to create a safe working environment with zero accidents."
Local authorities have begun an investigation to identify the probable causes of the incident and to determine whether SHI had violated existing safety protocols.
This is the third work-related incident to occur at SHI's Geoje shipyard this year.
On May 8, an employee of an SHI subcontractor was struck by flying debris during operations. Although the individual survived, his left arm became severed due to the force of the impact.
On May 27, another outsourced employee suffered injuries while working on a ship under construction at the yard. This individual succumbed to his injuries while in hospital.
