Last Year's Economic Loss from Industrial Accidents 30 Trillion Won... Publication of Serious Accident Punishment Act Guidebook

Guidelines for Compliance with the Serious Accident Punishment Act... 7 Mandatory Measures and Case Examples
Lack of Clarification on Corporate Concerns Such as 'Adequate Budget and Costs'

474 Industrial Accident Deaths in the First Half of the Year... 4 More Than the Previous Year

The person on the right is Byeong-deok An, Minister of Employment and Labor. (Photo by Ministry of Employment and Labor)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The estimated economic loss due to industrial accidents last year reached 30 trillion won.

According to the 'Safety and Health Management System Guidebook' published by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 29th, the estimated economic loss caused by industrial accidents last year was 29.9841 trillion won, an 8.5% increase from the previous year (27.6468 trillion won). The total number of lost workdays due to treatment and recuperation of injured workers was 55.34 million days, a 1.5% increase from the previous year (54.54 million days). The Ministry of Employment and Labor pointed out, "When industrial accidents occur, they cause serious work disruptions and negatively affect quality, productivity, and corporate image."

The guidebook explains the obligations of employers to establish a safety and health management system in relation to the Serious Accident Punishment Act, which will be enforced in January next year, through case examples. The Serious Accident Punishment Act punishes employers who fail to properly fulfill their obligation to establish a safety and health management system when a serious accident, such as a worker's death, occurs. The guidebook summarizes the obligation to establish a safety and health management system into seven key elements: ▲management leadership ▲worker participation ▲hazard identification ▲hazard elimination ▲emergency action plan establishment ▲ensuring safety and health during subcontracting, outsourcing, and consignment ▲evaluation and improvement, and presents specific implementation methods.

Regarding management leadership, it states that safety and health management policies must be communicated to subcontractors, dispatched workers, suppliers, sales companies, and customers, and that large corporations should, if possible, establish a safety and health department directly under management. Regarding worker participation, it recommends making all information related to safety and health management public as a principle and establishing official procedures such as industrial safety and health committees where workers can participate. Kwon Kisub, head of the Industrial Safety and Health Headquarters at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, said, "Protecting the life and health of workers is a fundamental duty of management, and recognizing that safety and health management is part of management is the first step in establishing and implementing a safety and health management system."

Meanwhile, the number of industrial accident deaths this year has rather increased. According to the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency under the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the provisional tally of industrial accident deaths from January to June this year was 474, an increase of 4 compared to the same period last year. Additionally, an analysis of 2,011 industrial accident deaths that occurred over three years from 2018 to last year by cause showed that the most frequent cause was the absence of safety facilities such as fall prevention devices (1,059 cases). This was followed by non-compliance with work methods (737 cases), lack of established work procedures (710 cases), and failure to provide or wear protective gear such as safety helmets (601 cases). This underscores the importance of adhering to basic safety rules.

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