11 Workplaces with Frequent Subcontractor Fatal Accidents, Including POSCO Pohang and Samsung Electronics Giheung

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The government has publicly announced 11 primary contractors with a high proportion of subcontractor fatal accidents, including POSCO Pohang Steelworks, Samsung Electronics Giheung Plant, and Korea Zinc Onsan Smelter. This is the first time since the introduction of the 'Primary and Subcontractor Integrated Industrial Accident Management System' in 2018 that a list of workplaces has been released.

On the 20th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that POSCO Pohang Steelworks, Samsung Electronics Giheung Plant, Korea Zinc Onsan Smelter, Hyundai Steel Company, POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks, Korea Railroad Corporation, LG Display, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Company, S-Oil, Renault Samsung Motors, and Samsung Display Cheonan Plant are 11 primary contractors with a high proportion of subcontractor fatal accidents. This announcement is part of the 'Primary and Subcontractor Integrated Industrial Accident Management System' introduced in 2018. This system recognizes that when primary and subcontractors work together, they are exposed to the same hazardous and dangerous factors, and accidents may occur due to ▲lack of communication between primary and subcontractors ▲insufficient management systems ▲differences in safety management capabilities. Therefore, to prevent industrial accidents, the primary contractor, which oversees the entire workplace, is required to manage industrial accident statistics comprehensively. The system applies to workplaces in manufacturing, railroad transportation, and urban railroad transportation with 1,000 or more employees, and selects workplaces where the combined fatal accident rate of primary and subcontractors is higher than that of the primary contractor alone.

The subcontractors affiliated with the 11 publicly announced primary contractors total 6,460 locations, and the total number of subcontractor workers is 84,519 (combined primary and subcontractor total 176,795, primary contractor 92,276). There were a total of 17 fatal accidents, of which 16 occurred at subcontractors, and fatal accidents occurred at 12 subcontractor locations, with 7 locations (58.3%) having fewer than 50 employees.

The fatal accident rate was recorded as 0.961? for combined primary and subcontractors, 1.893? for subcontractors, and 0.108? for primary contractors. The types of fatal accidents were 7 cases of suffocation, and 4 cases each of falls and entrapments. From 2020, the Primary and Subcontractor Integrated Industrial Accident Management System has been expanded to workplaces with 500 or more employees, and in 2022, it will be further expanded to include all electric power businesses (including power plants such as Taean Power Plant).

To reduce industrial accidents among subcontractor workers, the government plans to promote ▲reform of the individual experience rating system ▲support for autonomous safety and health management systems ▲safety measures for public institutions. The individual experience rating system, which discounts or surcharges industrial accident insurance premiums based on the degree of industrial accidents, will be reformed to reflect subcontractor industrial accidents in the primary contractor’s insurance premiums. A related amendment to the 'Act on Collection of Employment Insurance and Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Premiums' has been proposed.

Additionally, the revised Industrial Safety and Health Act, which came into effect on the 16th of last month, assigns safety and health responsibilities for all related subcontractor workers to the principal contractor. To ensure compliance at workplaces, manuals and guidelines will be developed to support on-site implementation. Furthermore, the safety management scoring in public institutions’ management evaluations will be increased from the existing 2 points to 6 points, and institution heads responsible for serious accidents will be recommended for dismissal, aiming to establish exemplary cases in public institutions.

Park Youngman, Director of the Industrial Accident Prevention and Compensation Policy Bureau, explained, "Primary and subcontractor employers should share risk information with each other, ensure that no work is performed without thorough safety measures, and both primary and subcontractor workers must strictly comply with and practice safety rules, even if it is somewhat inconvenient."

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