138 Occupational Safety and Health Act violations found at Pyeongtaek factory
Press conference at Pangyo headquarters to announce comprehensive safety plan
Seven action items proposed, including creation of dedicated safety office
Company vows company-wide effort to build robust safety framework
HL Mando announced a comprehensive safety improvement roadmap Monday, calling for a full overhaul of safety systems across all its worksites and the creation of a dedicated safety organization. The move comes after a worker's death and more than 130 Occupational Safety and Health Act violations were uncovered at its Pyeongtaek factory.
The company issued a statement Monday apologizing to the bereaved family of the worker killed in the recent workplace accident and outlining its safety reinforcement plan. HL Mando had planned to hold a press conference at its Pangyo headquarters in Gyeonggi Province at 4 p.m. Monday, with Vice Chairman Jo Seong-hyeon and Executive Vice President Kim Hyeon-uk set to appear in person. The event was called off, however, after the victim's family and an accident response committee blocked the proceedings.
"We offer our deepest condolences and a sincere apology to the bereaved family of the late Kim Seung-mo, who passed away in the tragic accident at our Pyeongtaek factory on July 22," the company said. "We feel a profound sense of responsibility for failing to fulfill our duty to protect precious lives and create a safe workplace."
The company said it would not treat the accident as an isolated incident, pledging to "go back to the very beginning and examine what was lacking — in our safety and health organization, our management systems, our on-site execution and investment, and our overall safety culture." It then laid out seven action items.
The first calls for annual joint safety audits conducted with external specialist agencies, with all findings tracked through a dedicated roadmap. HL Mando also said it would strengthen its internal safety inspection framework to identify hazards in advance and monitor any risks found until they are fully resolved.
The second item is "bold investment." The company said it would allocate a special budget to address risk factors and shift the approval process for on-site improvement spending to an "act first, report later" system. It also pledged to invest in smart safety management, including the installation of human-detection CCTV cameras throughout its factories.
The third item focuses on building a safety framework that functions on the ground — strengthening on-site execution so that safety standards do not remain mere documents, and rigorously monitoring compliance.
The fourth item centers on embedding safety competency across the workforce through expanded training. HL Mando said it would roll out customized on-site safety education and conduct regular assessments of safety awareness levels to identify and address gaps, with the goal of raising safety consciousness among all employees.
The fifth action item is "listening to voices from the floor." Beyond activating a safety and health hazard reporting center, the company said labor and management representatives would jointly declare safety as their top priority and lead efforts to entrench a safety culture through joint campaigns.
The sixth item calls for fostering a culture of shared growth with subcontractors, including providing safety inspection support to partner companies.
The seventh and final item is the creation of a dedicated Safety and Health Office. HL Mando said it would build a strong organization staffed with specialists to take primary responsibility for safety, reinforcing the structure by adding safety personnel at both headquarters and individual worksites. A safety audit unit will also be established at headquarters, and the existing safety and health team within each worksite's safety and environment division will be separated and elevated into an independent safety and health team.
"We will establish a concrete roadmap to ensure these measures are not a one-time declaration but are carried out in full, and will monitor progress through to completion," HL Mando said. "Senior management will directly verify the results, and where necessary, the effectiveness of the measures and their real-world application will be rigorously confirmed through objective review by external specialist agencies."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Monday that an occupational safety inspection of HL Mando's Pyeongtaek factory and four subcontractors had uncovered 138 violations — 125 at the factory itself and 13 across the four subcontractors. Of those, 86 cases will be referred immediately for criminal prosecution, while the remaining 52 will face fines totaling around 280 million won ($202,000).
The ministry ordered HL Mando's Pyeongtaek factory to draw up a comprehensive plan to prevent a recurrence and said it had immediately launched inspections at the company's Wonju and Iksan factories as well.
The accident occurred at around 12:50 p.m. on July 22, when Kim Seung-mo, a worker employed by a subcontractor, was fatally trapped between a machine and a wall while inspecting the interior of a malfunctioning parts-processing machine.
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