CEO killed at industrial site by worker operating forklift while talking on the phone, OSHA report shows

BRYAN COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC/Gray News) – New details released from an Occupational Safety and Health Administration report show the events that led up to the death of a CEO at a Georgia industrial site in March 2025.

The files are from OSHA’s recently closed investigation into the death of 45-year-old Sunbok You, the CEO of Hyundai subcontractor SBY America. The company was ultimately fined just under $10,000 for his death.

Safety violations cited in fatal incident

According to OSHA’s findings, You was on the HL-GA Battery Company construction site on March 21 speaking to some of his workers when he decided to walk across the road. He was then struck by the forklift and killed.

The report said You was wearing an eye patch on his right eye as well as a black vest. However, under HL-GA Battery Company rules, he should have been wearing a high-visibility green vest.

Statements given to OSHA by a safety manager, which had to be translated, said the person driving the forklift was talking on the phone while driving. Once he was off the forklift, he “ran away” without checking on You.

The report also said the forklift driver worked for a separate contractor, Beyond Iron Construction.

Companies fined for safety violations

OSHA opened an investigation into HL-GA Battery Company, SBY America, Beyond Iron Construction and Steel Brothers Development following You’s death. Three of those companies received fines.

Beyond Iron Construction received the largest fine of $16,550. OSHA found the company exposed employees to “struck-by and crushing hazards” and did not ensure forklift operators were following traffic regulations, including speed limits, use of spotters and horn use when vision was obstructed.

SBY America was fined $9,268 for exposing employees to “struck-by and crushing” hazards, which were likely to cause serious injury or death.

HL-GA Battery Company received a $1,800 fine for failing to submit required work-related injury or illness forms to OSHA.

Pattern of safety incidents

You was not the first person to lose his life during construction of the EV plant and its suppliers. In April 2023, Victor Gamboa died on the megasite after falling 60 feet to his death.

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. One of these injuries included another forklift accident, while one involved a worker being caught in a conveyor belt.

In March, prior to You’s death, a construction worker on the site went to the hospital after being seriously injured in a pipe explosion.

In May 2025, 27-year-old Allen Kowalski died on the HL-GA Battery construction site after a metal frame fell on him.

OSHA has opened at least 15 investigations into incidents at the site, including You’s death and the March pipe explosion.

Connection to ICE raid

Four of the companies investigated by OSHA were among six companies ICE named in the search warrant they obtained to raid the megasite in September. In that raid, which Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) called the largest single-site enforcement operation in the agency’s history, 475 workers were detained.

ICE said the detained workers were employees not just of HL-GA Battery Company but a network of various subcontractors.

The legal status of You has not been confirmed.

According to a spokesperson for HL-GA Battery company, neither SBY America or Beyond Iron Construction are still contracted at the construction site.

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