Justice Party "Half of Industrial Accidents Are Falls, No Safety Nets Worth a Few Thousand Won... Urgent Need for Corporate Punishment Law"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] About half of industrial accident deaths are due to falls, and most are caused by the lack of basic safety facilities.

The Labor Headquarters of the Justice Party announced on the 12th that, based on an analysis of the accident investigation reports submitted by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency to Justice Party lawmaker Kang Eun-mi for the period from January to June, the number of deaths from 237 reported cases was 243.

The accident investigation reports are on-site verification documents prepared by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency when a serious accident occurs. It was explained that there are differences from the number of industrial accident deaths because some cases are under investigation, some are excluded from application, and some accidents have no reports prepared.

Falls, which account for about 40% annually on average, showed the highest frequency at 49.3%, followed by being caught, crushed, and collisions. Deaths caused by these four types accounted for 91.2%.

In the case of fall deaths, 86 cases, or 73.5% of the total, involved no fall protection measures (such as safety nets, safety harness attachment facilities, installation of safety railings, or installation of lifelines (vertical ropes) on scaffolding). The industry with the most fall deaths was construction work, with 88 cases (75.2% of fall deaths).

Fall deaths mainly occurred among daily workers (85 cases), while regular workers, including permanent employees, accounted for 30 fall deaths. Also, more than half of the cases (59) occurred when the work was not directly performed by the primary contractor (such as subcontractors or individual builders).

The Justice Party argued that this is a structural problem rather than a cost issue. They stated, "Some companies claim they could not implement fall protection measures due to financial reasons, but detachable safety harness railings used on stairs, sleeves, and steel structures are sold on the market for 10,000 to 30,000 KRW, and fall prevention nets are available for around 300,000 KRW," adding, "Safety is being deprioritized in favor of convenience and speed of construction."

The Justice Party emphasized, "Fundamental measures are needed regarding the fact that fall deaths are not decreasing at all and most fall protection measures are not being implemented," and added, "There are limits to the current Industrial Safety and Health Act or supervision by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. Ultimately, the Serious Accident Punishment Act must be used to resolve this."

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