New details on megasite death surface as Hyundai EV plant celebrates grand opening
BRYAN COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - As employees and community leaders celebrate the grand opening of Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA), the electric vehicle plant in Bryan County, we’re learning more about the death of a construction worker on the megasite last week.
A man identified as Sunbok You was killed in a forklift accident this past Friday on the construction site of a joint venture between Hyundai and LG Energy Solutions, HL-GA Battery Company.
A Bryan County Sheriff’s Office reports says after the accident, You’s body was “laying behind the forklift” and that there was “a blood trail approximately 10-15 feet long.” WTOC Investigates obtained photos of the scene, which we won’t be publishing because of their graphic nature. They show You’s body, which was severed from the waist up, laying in front of a forklift, which is labeled “Hyundai.”
You isn’t the first person to lose his life during the construction of the EV plant and its suppliers. In April 2023, Victor Gamboa died on the megasite after falling 60 feet to his death.
WTOC Investigates has also uncovered a pattern of serious injuries on the site.
Bryan County EMS records show in a 16-month period, there were 53 calls for services at the site, including over a dozen for traumatic injuries. That includes another forklift accident and a worker being caught in a conveyor belt.
Earlier this month, a construction worker on the site went to the hospital after being seriously injured in a pipe explosion.
“As a company, we have our way of working. It’s called the ‘Hyundai way’. And at the very top of that is safety. Safety is number one. Everything that we do here from our training, to our continuous quality improvement, focuses on employee safety. And we have an entire team dedicated around the clock to support that. So safety is number one for Hyundai and for HMGMA,” says Brent Stubbs, the Chief Administrative Officer for HMGMA.
Governor Brian Kemp, who has publicly supported the Hyundai project since its announcement and attended the grand opening ceremony of HMGMA, refused to give WTOC an interview about safety issues on the project. We asked him at an event on Tuesday whether he thinks the State of Georgia is doing enough to regulate the site.
”We have an open investigation or those open investigations on those so I wouldn’t want to speak to those right now,” Kemp said.
We did not get the opportunity to ask the Governor what investigations he is referring to.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has opened at least 15 investigations into incidents at the site, including You’s death and the March pipe explosion. OSHA records show several other companies are being investigated in connection to You’s death, including Beyond Iron Construction and Steel Brother Development.
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