Falls, collapses and entrapments killed 74, accounting for 73% of total
Construction sector led with 44 deaths; Gyeonggi Province recorded 34
![Foreign workers practice using an automated external defibrillator (AED) during a customized workplace safety training session at the Hanwha Forena Cheonan-Asan Station construction site. This image is unrelated to the article. [Hanwha Construction Division]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/25/news-p.v1.20260918.d6044eb8e7fe42e3863b9fb9c8a881d8_P1.jpg)
A total of 102 foreign workers died from industrial accidents between last year and the second quarter of this year, with one in four victims aged 60 or older. Falls were the most common cause of death, and the construction sector bore the heaviest toll.
The figures come from national audit materials released Friday by Park Hae-cheol, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee. Of the 102 deaths, 37 — or 36.3 percent — resulted from falls. Another 20 workers were killed in collapse or burial accidents, and 17 died from entrapment. Combined, the three accident types accounted for 74 deaths, or 72.5 percent of the total.
By industry, construction recorded the highest death toll at 44, or 43.1 percent — meaning more than four in 10 foreign worker fatalities occurred on construction sites. By region, Gyeonggi Province had the most deaths at 34.
Workers aged 60 and older made up the largest share of fatalities at 26, or 25.5 percent. Those in the 40–44 and 50–54 age brackets each accounted for 15 deaths, or 14.7 percent. The data highlights safety risks not only for foreign workers but also for older workers more broadly.
Park urged the government to make customized, hands-on safety training in workers' native languages mandatory for foreign workers and to overhaul on-site supervision systems.
fact0514@heraldcorp.com
