Animation, AI used to lower language barriers at workplaces

Foreign workers watch an animated video showing safety guidelines in Vietnamese at a highway construction site in South Jeolla Province, in this undated photo. Courtesy of DL E&C

Major Korean construction firms have taken various measures to improve communication with foreign workers to prevent fatal industrial accidents that have been exacerbated by language barriers.

The most widely used method is the production of animated videos explaining safety guidelines.

DL E&C recently produced a 10-minute video to raise awareness about safety risks such as falls and suffocation by introducing 47 safety guidelines for carpentry, steel framing, concreting and other construction work.

The video was translated into English and the five most widely used languages at construction sites — Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, Khmer and Burmese.

“Safety guidelines without language barriers are related directly to the safety of foreign workers,” DL E&C CEO Park Sang-shin said.

Last year, Lotte E&C started distributing animations and cartoons to both Korean and foreign workers to improve understanding of safety guidelines at construction sites.

The company translated those materials into 10 different languages, including Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese, Khmer and Mongolian.

Daewoo E&C has also distributed animated videos that outline safety guidelines in English and 10 other languages to construction sites nationwide.

“With the new video clips, we hope foreign workers become more cautious about their safety and work in safer environments,” a Daewoo E&C official said.

Some companies have relied on translators specializing in construction industry terms.

Under the lead of foreign employees from Myanmar, China and Vietnam, Hyundai E&C developed the Mobile HPMS smartphone app, which can play over 500 sentences used at construction sites in Chinese, Vietnamese, Burmese, Thai and Khmer.

GS E&C developed Xi Voice, a generative artificial intelligence-based translator, which recognizes Korean speech and translates spoken words simultaneously into the written languages of 120 different countries, including China and Vietnam.

With the aim of offering speech-to-speech translations, the construction firm also plans to develop a mobile app version of Xi Voice for use at construction sites without internet access.

HDC Hyundai Development Company, which has translated video clips and books related to safety guidelines, has especially hired human interpreters to translate safety protocols on high-risk work during safety education lectures.

According to the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association, one out of three workers at construction sites were foreign nationals last year.

Its survey also showed that 83 percent of construction workers felt the increase of foreign colleagues.

Additionally, the number of foreign workers at construction sites rose to 118,735 in March 2024 from 93,404 in March 2022.

The proportion of foreign workers at construction sites is expected to grow further as the government seeks to allow more use of foreign labor at construction sites to curb soaring construction costs.