"Delivery Workers Not Recognized as Workers... Need for System Improvement"

"High-Intensity Night Work Causes Health Issues... Measures Needed to Hold Employers Accountable"

On the afternoon of the 22nd, in front of Coupang headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul, the Delivery Workers' Death Countermeasures Committee and the bereaved families of deceased workers held a "Coupang Condemnation and Bereaved Families Meeting Request Press Conference." Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] Recently, as accidents involving delivery workers dying due to excessive workloads have occurred one after another, experts have diagnosed that the cause lies in the prolonged high-intensity labor environment.

Im Sang-hyuk, director of Green Hospital, stated on the 23rd on YTN Radio's 'Wise Radio Life,' "Same-day delivery requires long hours of work from morning until dawn, which is problematic," adding, "It involves high-intensity night labor. Long hours of work or night shifts are harmful to health and can cause diseases such as heart disease and cerebrovascular disease, which may lead to death."

He continued, "Due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), delivery workers' working hours have increased, and they have been working night shifts. However, since the system does not recognize them as workers, the employer bears no responsibility," and suggested, "There is a need for institutional improvement to recognize them as workers."

Director Im said, "Whether night work, shift work, or night shifts are dangerous should be evaluated specifically by 'how often,' 'how hard,' and 'how many hours' one works. However, fundamentally, night shifts and shift work can be considered hazardous labor," and pointed out, "Looking at those who have passed away, they work like that almost every day throughout the year except for days off. Such work is unbearable, and if they do not quit, they may die."

He added, "For those who do night work, companies not only notify them of health risks but also conduct special health checkups once a year and inform them of the results," criticizing, "However, delivery workers and courier workers are not recognized as workers, so employers have no responsibility. They cannot receive health checkups nor are they informed of such risks."

Regarding Coupang's recent statement that the average working hours of the deceased 20-something temporary worker at Coupang's logistics center were 44 hours per week, he said, "He worked night shifts almost exclusively from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. for over a year. The government usually requires adding 30% to working hours in such cases," adding, "He reportedly walked about 50,000 steps a day, and when such risk factors accumulate, diseases appear, leading to death from overwork, which is a typical case."

He criticized, "Saying that the death was not due to overwork at the company is irresponsible."

Director Im made a long-term proposal, saying, "Same-day delivery, bullet delivery, rocket delivery?these did not exist in the past. It would be better to ban them except in cases of absolute necessity," and added, "If necessary, charging higher delivery fees or differentiating could help delivery workers work more healthily."

Meanwhile, the Delivery Workers Overwork Death Countermeasures Committee held a press conference on the 22nd in front of Coupang's headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul, demanding an apology from Coupang and measures to prevent recurrence.

The committee emphasized, "Although Coupang claims that the deceased's average working hours over the past three months were 44 hours per week and denies overwork death, it is necessary to consider that the deceased worked night shifts 5 to 6 days a week," adding, "When converting night work to daytime working hours, the deceased worked over 60 hours per week for more than four weeks. There are also factors such as irregular holidays and shift work that can be seen as causes of overwork death."

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