Two Incidents Overlapping in Kure

In the autumn of 2024, two different incidents were reported in quick succession, originating from Kure City in Hiroshima Prefecture. One was a fatal workplace accident that occurred during demolition work at the site of Nippon Steel’s Kure area. The other was a case of violence that came to light aboard the transport ship “Kunisaki,” belonging to the Kure District Headquarters of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

The industries and organizations involved are different. However, when these two incidents are placed side by side, a common question arises—”Who is ‘safety on site’ designed for, and by whom?”

According to labor accident statistics published by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in 2023, the number of fatal accidents involving foreign workers has been on the rise compared to the previous year, with a high percentage occurring in the construction and manufacturing sectors. In the Hiroshima Labor Bureau jurisdiction, reports of serious accidents involving foreign workers continue to emerge. Behind the numbers lies the existence of individuals who are exposed to danger without being able to voice their concerns on site.

Nippon Steel Kure—A Worker Was Buried Under a Fallen Steel Plate

On August 28, 2023, during demolition work at the Nippon Steel Kure area, a 31-year-old worker was killed when a steel plate fell on him. The Kure Labor Standards Inspection Office recognized it as a workplace accident and began investigating the safety management system at the site.

While the detailed investigation into the cause of the accident is still ongoing, what stands out is the structure of the site itself. Demolition work at large-scale plants is typically operated under a multi-layered contracting structure involving primary contractors, first-tier subcontractors, and second-tier subcontractors. Work instructions flow down from above, while risks flow downwards. The responsibilities for safety education, awareness of hazardous areas, and management of protective equipment—each of these “stakeholders” can easily become ambiguous within this structure.

According to materials from the Construction Industry Accident Prevention Association, the main causes of fatal accidents in demolition work are “falls and collapses,” which account for about 60% of the total. Being buried under a fallen steel plate is a classic accident pattern categorized as “collapse.” In other words, it was a foreseeable risk. Why did a risk that should have been foreseeable take a human life?

The placement of foreign workers in such environments is also increasing. For workers entering construction and demolition sites through the Technical Intern Training Program and the Specified Skilled Worker Program, safety notices written in Japanese, risk prediction (KY) activities conducted in Japanese, and instructions given in Japanese may not reach them as “information.” The multilingualization of safety education is not a legal obligation, and its implementation is left to the discretion of each business operator. There is no system in place designed to ensure that information is delivered effectively.

JMSDF “Kunisaki”—A Hand Raised in a Closed Room

On the other hand, the Kure District Headquarters of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force announced that a petty officer third class assigned to the transport ship “Kunisaki” had been disciplined with a six-month suspension for slapping and kicking a junior member.

According to the Ministry of Defense, the acts of violence were carried out under the pretext of “guidance.” The details of when and how the affected member raised their voice—or perhaps failed to do so—remain unclear.

Incidents of violence within the Self-Defense Forces have been repeatedly reported in recent years. The number of disciplinary actions related to harassment published by the Ministry of Defense in 2023 reached a record high. The issue is not solely about individual character. The highly closed nature of the organization—physical spaces on vessels with no escape routes, an absolute hierarchy in command structures, and a structure that makes external oversight difficult—creates an environment where violence is preserved under the guise of “guidance.”

This structure bears some resemblance to the environments in which foreign workers are placed.

A Common Denominator of “Voices That Cannot Be Heard”

Subcontracted workers at demolition sites and junior members aboard vessels. Their positions are entirely different, but they share a commonality: they exist within a structure where “voices are difficult to hear.”

Workers at the end of the subcontracting chain find it challenging to voice their concerns directly to the primary contractor, even if they feel unsafe. Moreover, for foreign workers, the language barrier, coupled with the fact that their residency status is tied to their employer, makes it perilous to raise objections to their employer. According to statistics from the Immigration Services Agency, as of the end of 2023, there were approximately 400,000 technical interns. Many of them are caught in a double bind where raising their voice could lead to job loss and loss of residency status.

In the case of the Self-Defense Forces, although there is a reporting system within the organization, whether it actually functions is another matter. The 2022 allegations of sexual abuse by former Self-Defense Force member Rina Gono-i were not resolved within the organization and only gained traction after being communicated externally. The existence of a system for raising voices and the existence of a system for those voices to be heard are not the same.

Safety Must Be ‘Designed’

Safety should not depend on individual attentiveness. It should be designed as a system.

In construction sites, the mandatory implementation of multilingual safety education, clarification of safety management responsibilities within subcontracting structures, and the establishment of hotlines allowing foreign workers to report hazards in their native languages—none of these are technically impossible. Some major general contractors have already begun initiatives to show safety videos in Vietnamese, Indonesian, and English on-site. However, this has not yet become the standard across the entire industry.

In the Self-Defense Forces, there is a need for strengthening the effectiveness of oversight systems involving external third parties, increasing transparency in behavioral records within closed spaces, and visualizing the processes leading from reporting incidents to disciplinary actions. The Ministry of Defense announced organizational reforms to prevent harassment in 2023, but its effectiveness will be scrutinized moving forward.

What is crucial is whether the design philosophy of safety considers the perspective of “who it makes comfortable.” Is the safety management aimed at reducing the management costs of the primary contractor, or is it designed to protect the individuals standing under the steel plates on site? Is the reporting system in place to protect the organization’s facade, or is it meant to allow those who have been assaulted in closed spaces to escape? If the starting point of the design is different, the shape of the system will change entirely.

Each Individual Behind the Numbers

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has indicated plans to strengthen measures to prevent workplace accidents involving foreign workers in the fiscal year 2024. This is expected to include the development of multilingual safety and health education materials and enhanced supervision and guidance for technical intern implementers.

However, even if the system changes, it is meaningless if the situation on the ground does not change. There is always a gap between rules and reality. Bridging that gap requires a perspective that observes the site and ears that pick up voices.

In the port town of Kure, there was a worker who was buried under a steel plate. There was a member who was assaulted aboard a vessel. While these two incidents are categorized differently in statistics, they are connected at their root in the aspect of “structures where voices cannot be heard, leading to harm.”

Designing safety means shedding light on that structure. When systems protect people—it is not about relying on someone’s attentiveness or courage, but about creating a state where individuals are protected without having to raise their voices. That blueprint has yet to be completed.