Workers are on duty at a construction site in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — One out of 10 construction workers who lost their lives in accidents in South Korea last year was a foreign national, government data showed Monday, highlighting the significant contribution of foreigners to the workforce, without whom operating construction sites would be impossible.
According to reports from the land and labor ministries, there were a total of 402 fatalities due to construction accidents last year, with 47 of these cases (11.7 percent) involving foreign workers.
Although specific figures for foreign worker fatalities in the current year are not available yet, there has been a recent continuation in the deaths of foreign workers.
Last week, tragedy struck when a Vietnamese sibling was buried to death under collapsing concrete at a new construction site for a neighborhood living facility in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province.
Two days prior to that incident, a worker from Myanmar in his 20s, who was employed as a signalman at a highway construction site in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang Province, lost his life after being struck by a dump truck unloading and transporting soil and sand.
The frequency of accidents involving foreign workers is projected to rise further due to the rapid growth in their numbers at construction sites.
Foreign workers often take on roles that local Koreans tend to avoid due to the demanding nature of the work.
“Koreans typically handle the technical tasks, while foreigners are primarily engaged in labor-intensive jobs, such as framing,” an official from a major construction company said.
A report published by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs in February of the preceding year unveiled that the fatality rate per 10,000 foreign workers in the construction sector stands at 5.97, significantly surpassing rates in other industries.
Based on data for industrial accidents in 2020 from the labor ministry, the report disclosed that the fatality rate per 10,000 foreign workers was 1.05 in the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries industries; 0.30 in wholesale, retail, food, and accommodation; and 1.04 in utility, transportation, communication, and finance.
Moreover, the fatality rate per 10,000 migrant workers within the construction industry is more than twice the rate for all workers across South Korea, which is 2.48.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
