Workplace injuries in food and lodging sector rose from 12,028 in 2023 to 13,012 last year; Hyundai Green Food and CJ Freshway among top workplaces by injury count; 104 deaths recorded over 3.5 years

McDonald's Korea's Seoul Station branch [The Korea Herald DB]
McDonald's Korea's Seoul Station branch [The Korea Herald DB]

McDonald's Korea recorded 664 workplace injury cases over the past three and a half years, while hundreds more were reported at major food service and institutional catering companies including Hyundai Green Food and CJ Freshway. With workplace injuries across the food and lodging sector rising every year, calls are growing for stronger industrial safety management in the restaurant and catering industries.

According to data submitted to Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Hae-cheol of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and other agencies, workplace injuries in the food and lodging sector rose for two consecutive years — from 12,028 in 2023 to 12,525 in 2024 and 13,012 last year. That represents an increase of 984 cases, or 8.2 percent, over two years. A further 6,905 injuries were recorded in the first half of this year alone.

Broken down by workplace, injuries were concentrated at large restaurant franchise chains and institutional catering companies. McDonald's Korea had the highest cumulative injury count from 2023 through the second quarter of this year, at 664 cases. Hyundai Green Food followed with 579, then CJ Freshway with 462, Hyundai Catering System with 428 and Ourhome with 264.

The five workplaces together recorded a total of 2,397 injury cases. However, the figures are raw counts that do not account for differences in workforce size or working hours, making it difficult to directly rank the workplaces by industrial accident risk.

Accident-related injuries accounted for the vast majority of cases across all five workplaces. At McDonald's Korea, 644 of the 664 total cases were accident injuries, with 20 classified as occupational illness. CJ Freshway recorded 402 accident injuries and 60 illness cases, while Hyundai Catering System logged 368 and 60, respectively. Ourhome reported 220 accident injuries and 44 illness cases.

Hyundai Green Food stood out for its occupational illness figures: 139 of its 579 total cases — 24 percent — were illness-related, the highest count among the top five workplaces. That share was eight times higher than McDonald's Korea's illness rate of 3 percent.

Workplace injuries also continued in food manufacturing. Injury cases in the broader food manufacturing sector rose from 846 in 2024 to 928 last year, an increase of 82 cases, or 9.7 percent. Another 496 injuries were reported in the first half of this year.

Among individual workplaces in that sector over the same period, Samgu FS recorded the highest cumulative injury count at 65 cases, followed by Foodware with 46, Daesang with 19, Eomji Food with 16 and Samyang Foods with 15.

Workplace fatalities also continued throughout the period. Deaths from industrial accidents in the food and lodging sector totaled 35 in 2023, 25 in 2024 and 23 last year. In the first half of this year alone, 21 workers died. The cumulative death toll from 2023 through the first half of this year stands at 104.

An additional 17 workers died from industrial accidents in the food manufacturing sector over the same period, bringing the combined death toll across both industries to 121.

With workplace accidents recurring at major restaurant and catering companies, experts say the government needs to analyze working conditions and accident patterns by industry and strengthen prevention measures. They argue that because risk factors differ across cooking, catering and food manufacturing environments, tailored oversight suited to each workplace's characteristics is more effective than uniform inspections.

Park said the data showed that "workers are actually being injured or falling ill in greater numbers at large franchise chains and conglomerate affiliates that are familiar to the public." He added that "customized measures tailored to the characteristics of each industry and workplace are the key to accident prevention," and urged the Ministry of Employment and Labor to "closely analyze specific workplaces and industries where accidents keep recurring and maintain rigorous oversight until an environment where workers can do their jobs without getting hurt is in place."


fact0514@heraldcorp.com