Stop Work Authority for Worker Participation and Communication
Stop Work Authority is an initiative to allow workers to immediately report and address risks or unsafe conditions encountered during work. It was fully implemented across all sites starting in March 2021, and as of December 2025, a total of 654,957 cases have been recorded. Our Construction Division has developed a dedicated application (S-TBM) to enable workers to effectively exercise their Stop Work Authority, enhancing both speed and convenience. For subcontractors, non-retaliation and loss compensation clauses related to Stop Work Authority are clearly stipulated in contracts to enhance mutual trust. Workers are also provided with incentives, such as rewards, in appreciation of their participation in accident prevention. We promotes the authority not as a means of indiscriminately restricting work, but as a communication and participation initiative to ensure worker safety.
Background and Principles of Implementation
Stop Work Authority - Q&A
- Does exercising Stop Work Authority affect construction progress?
- A.Exercising Stop Work Authority enables immediate response to imminent hazards, preventing accidents that could have more severe impacts on site operations. Rather, it helps prevent schedule delays caused by work stoppages due to accidents.
- Does exercising Stop Work Authority cause any losses?
- The cost incurred from temporary work stoppages is minimal, while the positive impact of preventing failure costs (such as accident handling expenses and reputational damage) is significantly greater.
- When can Stop Work Authority be exercised?
- It may be exercised when there is an imminent risk of safety incidents affecting oneself or others.
- Are there any disadvantages from stopping work?
- A.Reporters are guaranteed anonymity, and any labor cost losses due to work stoppage are fully compensated.
- How can actions be verified, and what if corrective measures are insufficient?
- Through the in-house application (S-TBM), users can verify completion of corrective actions (via photos and descriptions). If actions are insufficient, re-corrective action can be requested within one day.
Principles for Embedding and Promoting Stop Work Authority
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- TimelinessImmediate Sharing
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- Promotion of participation methods and purpose
- QR code/KaKaoTalk/In-house App
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- ClaritySpecific Feedback
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- 2-hour feedback principle
- Operation of a dedicated improvement team
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- TrustNo disadvantage/Non-retaliation
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- Explicit stipulation of prohibition of unfair treatment
- Expansion of rewards and incentives
Stop Work Authority Status (2025)
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- 654,957cases Cumulative number of Stop Work Authority activations
- 161,479workers SWA implemented since March 2021
- 5years SWA implemented since March 2021
- 8.4% Participation rate of foreign workers at domestic sites
- 4,772workers Workers with 20 or more SWA reports
- 89.1% Workers who experienced corrective actions completed within 2 hours(2024 survey of 3,832 respondents)
- 93.1% Workers willing to use SWA at other companies’ sites(2024 survey of 3,832 respondents)
Stop Work Authority
Use of Worker Safety Information System: S-TBM (Samsung Tool Box Meeting)
Encouraging Safe Behaviors Through Dialogue and Active Listening – One on One Mentoring for Workers
At Samsung C&T Construction group sites, we foster a culture in which employees and workers care for another’s safety through voluntary risk communication based on mutual trust. One on one mentoring is built around a core process of observation, recognition, questioning, and listening, and serves as the starting point for building Samsung C&T Construction Group’s safety culture.
1:1 Mentoring
An activity in which mentors(employees) and mentees(subcontractors/workers) meet to build relationships and communicate risks through hazard identification and listening to the voice of the worker (VOC).
