Launch of Public Sector 'Safety Management Grading System' This Year... Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency Begins Supporting 'Inspections'

Public Institutions Lead in Establishing Proactive Safety Management Systems

First Implementation This Year to Establish Safety Management Framework in the Public Sector

98 Public Institutions Subject to the 2021 Safety Management Grading System.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA, President Park Doo-yong) is intensifying support for the implementation of the ‘Safety Management Grading System’ for public institutions.

On the 23rd, KOSHA participated as an auxiliary evaluation agency in the kickoff meeting of the Public Institution Safety Management Grading Evaluation Team to support the implementation of the Safety Management Grading System.

The evaluation team meeting was attended by government members including the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (team leader), and directors from the Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Ministry of Science and ICT, as well as 30 safety experts from industry, academia, and research institutes as private members.

KOSHA attended as an auxiliary evaluation agency alongside the Korea Land Safety Management Institute and the National Research Safety Management Headquarters.

At this meeting, hosted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Safety Management Grading Evaluation Team and auxiliary evaluation agencies including KOSHA finalized the ‘2021 Safety Management Grading System Implementation Plan’ and the ‘Evaluation Manual.’

As an auxiliary evaluation agency, KOSHA will conduct safety assessments of risk factors at the institutions subject to evaluation and provide support during the document review and on-site verification phases conducted by the Safety Management Grading Evaluation Team.

The ‘Public Institution Safety Management Grading System’ is a system newly implemented this year to encourage public institutions to proactively establish preventive safety management systems and to establish a safety management framework within the public sector.

It evaluates public institutions’ safety capabilities, safety levels, safety performance, and value to assign safety management grades.

A total of 98 public institutions have been designated for evaluation this year, including 61 key safety management institutions with risk factors such as workplaces, construction sites, facilities, and research facilities, and 37 research institutions.

The evaluation will be conducted by dividing the institutions into two groups based on the relative risk of accident occurrence: the Yellow (normal) group with 65 institutions and the Red (high) group with 33 institutions.

The safety management grades for each institution (five levels) are scheduled to be disclosed by the end of June. KOSHA is developing safety education programs for safety organization managers, employees, and executives of institutions that receive lower grades (Cap2~Cap1).

A KOSHA official stated, “This new system is significant as it comprehensively diagnoses and improves the safety management status of public institutions,” adding, “Through the Public Institution Safety Management Grading System, we expect to support the active improvement of safety levels and the establishment of a safety culture in public institutions, contributing to the reduction of major accidents.”

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