Last Year’s Industrial Accident Deaths Reach First 800s... "This Year, Focused Supervision on Falls and Crushing Accidents"

Construction Industry (428 People) and Manufacturing Industry (206 People) Account for Most Accidents
Improvement Plans Through Surprise Inspections and Foreign Worker Training

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Last year, the number of industrial accident fatalities entered the 800s for the first time since statistics began, showing a significant decrease compared to the previous year. The government plans to focus on managing fall accidents in the construction industry and entrapment accidents in the manufacturing industry, which are major causes of death, and conduct surprise inspections.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 8th, the number of industrial accident fatalities last year was 855, a decrease of 116 (11.9%) compared to the previous year. This is the largest decrease since the accident fatality statistics began in 1999. As a result, the number of accident fatalities fell into the 800s for the first time, and the fatality rate per 10,000 workers also dropped to 0.45~0.46, entering the 0.4 range for the first time. By industry, construction (428) and manufacturing (206) accounted for most of the fatalities, with 221 deaths in other industries. Compared to the previous year, these numbers decreased by 57, 11, and 48 respectively.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor evaluated that this decrease in fatalities was due to strengthened on-site management and supervision through collaboration with related organizations. Last year, the ministry expanded the supervision targets in the construction industry to 7,961 sites and focused inspections on risk factors such as falls. As a result, the rate of fall-related violations increased nearly twofold from 31.3% in 2018 to 58.8% last year. For small-scale construction sites, the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency operated daily patrol inspection teams (168 teams, 27 patrol cars) to conduct regional inspections.

Collaboration with related ministries such as the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Economy and Finance, and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also proceeded smoothly. In particular, periodic inspections by local governments resulted in a decrease of 18 (30%) in accident fatalities at contracted construction and project sites compared to the previous year, and a decrease of 15 (28.8%) in accident fatalities at public institution workplaces, totaling 37 fewer deaths.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to focus this year’s supervision on fall accidents in construction and entrapment accidents in manufacturing as the main causes of fatal accidents. In particular, a new field called the "(tentative name) Entrapment Risk Work Supervision" will be created, selecting and notifying five times the number of supervision targets in advance to encourage voluntary improvement, followed by surprise inspections. Patrol inspections and supervision will also be expanded from construction to manufacturing, and for small and micro enterprises, on-site education will be provided to guide voluntary improvement.

Additionally, industrial accident fatalities among foreign workers, which numbered 103 last year (49 in construction, 38 in manufacturing, 17 in others), will also be addressed through prevention policies. Safety and health materials will be produced and distributed in a total of 16 languages, and pre-employment training courses will be operated. Inspections will also be conducted at 170 sites that employ a large number of foreign workers.

Regarding this, Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap said, "It is very heavy on my heart that more than 800 people still lose their lives in industrial accidents every year," adding, "The amended Industrial Safety and Health Act, which significantly strengthens the responsibility of the primary contractor, will be enforced starting this year, and if it is well established on-site, it will have a considerable effect in reducing fatal accidents."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.