OSHA Fines Add Pressure on Hyundai After Death in Workplace Accident

A Korean American construction worker died at the Hyundai–LG Energy Solution battery plant site in Georgia, and federal regulators imposed the most significant penalties on the two Korean subcontractors involved. Occupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA) fined the subcontractors a total of $25,818, while the Hyundai–LG joint venture received a $1,800 penalty for incomplete documentation.

According to OSHA, the Korean-run construction firms Beyond Iron Construction and Steel Brothers Development were fined $16,550 and $9,268, respectively. Regulators said the companies failed to provide adequate safety guidance on forklift speed limits and emergency horn use, contributing to the collision that caused the fatal crushing.

The victim, Seonbok Yoo (45), died in March after being run over by a forklift operated by a 54-year-old man surnamed Bae at the battery plant construction site. Yoo’s upper body was severed in the accident. Both Korean subcontractors were working under LG Energy Solution on the project.

This incident was one of three fatalities at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) site in Ellabell, Georgia. In April 2023, Victor Javier Gamboa (34) died in a fall, leading to a $160,724 OSHA fine against Louisiana-based Eastern Constructors, a Hyundai contractor. Two months after Yoo’s death, in May, Alan Kowalski died after being crushed while unloading rebar from a forklift.

BY YEOL JANG [jang.yeol@koreadaily.com]