When Falls Are Not Just Accidents: What Korea’s Construction Data Cannot See

The construction industry is one of Korea’s biggest employers, with some two million workers labouring in all weathers to improve living standards for all of us. Yet this vital industry also carries one of the highest accident and fatality rates of any sector.

Authorities divide construction site accident data between public and private projects. Although public projects slightly outnumber private, collectively there were some 6,180 accidents reported in 2024. Of these, 3,082 occurred at public project sites and 3,098 at private sites, suggesting that this distinction offers little insight when attempting to identify underlying causes.

Having spent much of this year investigating suicides in the UK construction industry, which suffers an average of two workers per day to suicide, I was naturally drawn to the recently published Korean data. I make no suggestion that the fatal incidents on Korean construction sites are due to suicide. However, I do question why such a consideration is entirely absent from official publications.

The leading cause of death in Korean construction industry data is, falls from height. Between 2020 and 2024, 622 such deaths were recorded. In the broader population, jumping from height is the second most common method of suicide, after hanging. Is it therefore implausible to ask whether suicide could be a factor within this industry? Perhaps the reason we do not know is not institutional failure, but the existence of a legal blind spot that appears to have gone unnoticed.

When a fatal incident occurs on a construction site, the police will attend the scene. However, where there is no indication of criminal behaviour, primary responsibility shifts away from the police, and the matter is investigated by safety and accident prevention bodies. These organisations are staffed by highly skilled professionals, but their remit is limited to identifying hazards and accidents. This exposes an investigative gap, as suicide is classified neither as a crime nor as an accident.

We identified a similar structural issue in the UK, where the Health and Safety Executive recorded 35 falls-from-height deaths as “accidents” in 2024, potentially masking underlying suicide risks. In the same year, Korea’s construction sector recorded 106 fatal falls from height, prompting questions of whether similar blind spots may exist here.

At first glance, these two figures might suggest that the UK has substantially safer working conditions than Korea, a conclusion we must be cautious of. Indeed, they could suggest something else entirely. Jumping from height is among the most common suicide methods in South Korea, whereas in the UK, methods involving jumping or falls account for only a small minority of suicides, typically around 4–7%. This contrast surely warrants closer interrogation of Korean fall-related deaths, and the assumptions used to classify them?

In response to the local accident data, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, through its “Roadmap to Zero” initiative, is now focusing particular attention on scaffolders, roofers, and others working at height. Interestingly, the UK investigation showed these very same trades carrying the highest relative suicide risk. Korean regulators clearly sense a problem within these occupations, even if suicide itself remains unacknowledged.

During the 2000~2024 period, Korean construction non-fatal falls from height accidents produced approximately 4,600 injuries. If investigations included the human dimension, could some of these incidents be understood as early warning signals of individuals in distress, allowing intervention before tragedy occurs?

Fatal falls appear to occur disproportionately at smaller construction sites, where fewer workers, lighter supervision, and fragmented task allocation increase the likelihood of individuals working alone.

Research into suicide consistently shows that acts of self-harm tend to occur in isolation, away from interruption or onlookers. This does not imply intent in any individual case. However, when fatal falls occur in circumstances of solitude, it is reasonable to ask whether examining only equipment, compliance, and liability is sufficient, or whether investigators should also consider the human conditions of those who were working alone. Official construction safety statistics in Korea break down accidents by type, severity, and employer compliance, but do not record whether incidents were witnessed, or whether the worker was alone, rendering this human context invisible.

A central question in my UK investigation was whether elevated suicide rates were driven by the industry itself, or whether construction disproportionately attracts individuals with pre-existing vulnerabilities. Among the many factors examined, including substance misuse, irregular employment, financial insecurity, and mental illness, one condition repeatedly emerged in the background; attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

ADHD is associated with elevated risks of impulsivity, emotional dysregulation, substance misuse, and suicide. It is also associated with strengths that align naturally with construction work: practical problem-solving, hands-on learning, tolerance for physical activity, and satisfaction from visible, task-based achievement. Construction may therefore offer not only employment, but structure and purpose for such challenged individuals.

This implication is neither diagnostic nor accusatory. Rather, it highlights a broader concern: when safety systems are designed only to identify hazards and assign liability after death, they will inevitably fail to notice psychological vulnerability before it becomes fatal. Falls from height may be the mechanism recorded in statistics, but the conditions that place certain individuals at heightened risk remain largely invisible, and therefore unaddressed.

Anthony Hegarty MSc

The Korean version of this article appeared in the Maeil Shinbun Newspaper (print edition) on 25th December 2025. That Korean version can be read here: https://www.imaeil.com/page/view/2025121510001374006