Ministry of Employment "Strengthening COVID-19 Prevention... Unannounced Inspections at High-Risk Workplaces Such as Call Centers"

Employment and Labor Crisis Response TF Meeting Held
"Thorough Quarantine Measures for Training Institutions and Qualification Examinations"
Lee Jae-gap Urges "Full Effort to Prevent Infection Spread"

Lee Jae-gap, Minister of Employment and Labor / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Ministry of Employment and Labor will conduct surprise inspections of high-risk workplaces with high density, such as call centers, to manage COVID-19 prevention.

On the morning of the 25th, Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap held the "Employment and Labor Crisis Response TF Countermeasure Meeting," attended by heads of 48 local employment and labor offices nationwide.

At the meeting, it was decided to implement strengthened quarantine management measures for infection-vulnerable workplaces, training institutions, qualification examinations, and employment service civil affairs in accordance with the nationwide expansion of social distancing to Level 2.

First, guidelines and self-inspection checklists were distributed to infection-vulnerable workplaces such as call centers and logistics centers nationwide, and workplaces were instructed to conduct self-inspections based on these materials.

For 400 vulnerable workplaces, including those with insufficient self-inspections and high-density high-risk workplaces like call centers, local employment and labor offices will conduct surprise inspections.

For 10,000 construction sites and 10,000 manufacturing workplaces nationwide, quarantine management guidance will be provided in collaboration with related organizations such as the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency and private safety and health institutions.

Training institutions with 300 or more people will be encouraged to use remote training methods, and for those with fewer than 300 people, quarantine management will be strengthened by requesting operational restriction orders if quarantine rules are violated.

For large-scale collective qualification examinations such as the 4th driver’s license written test next month (19th to 27th), thorough quarantine measures will be implemented, including reducing the number of people per exam room, securing additional exam venues, and dispersing exam dates, while preparing according to the original schedule.

Whether to conduct the exams will be further reviewed in accordance with strengthened social distancing measures due to the spread of COVID-19.

Minister Lee urged, "Please maintain vigilance and make every effort to strengthen quarantine management and prevent the spread of infection in infection-vulnerable workplaces, training institutions, qualification examinations, and foreign workers."

He added, "In preparation for economic activity contraction caused by the second wave of infectious disease spread, actively identify workplaces subject to management to support employment stability between labor and management on site, and provide various guidance and connections to available support systems without neglect."

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