"Yeosu Specialized High School Student Industrial Accident Death Case Training Company, Single-Person Small Business"

Kwonikwi "Focus on Pre-Education and Post-Inspection Management for Small-Scale Internship Companies"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] An investigation revealed that the death of a vocational high school intern in Yeosu occurred because the internship was assigned to a small business owner who did not properly manage the training environment. Since students are falling into legal blind spots and being exposed to various dangers, urgent improvements are required.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced on the 1st that after visiting the site where the deceased intern died on the 21st of last month and investigating the cause of the accident, this was revealed. It was found that the business owner had never guided an intern before and lacked basic knowledge of safety and labor-related laws.

There is a vicious cycle where each school and education office sends students to poor-condition companies to achieve performance results. The ACRC pointed out, "Since employment rates are reflected in various evaluations, education offices and schools send interns to small-scale businesses with only one owner, even if the field is unrelated to the students' major."

A bigger problem is that even labor inspectors were unaware of the internship companies' information. Due to the large number of companies under management, students sent to one-person small businesses for internships were in a legal blind spot, the ACRC judged.

Accordingly, the ACRC proposed focusing on managing whether pre-education and post-inspections are conducted for small internship companies, and that teachers and labor inspectors share internship company information with the Employment and Labor Office and conduct on-site inspections.

Yang Jong-sam, Director of the Policy Improvement Bureau at the ACRC, said, "Vocational high school interns should also be treated as valuable individuals," and added, "We will regularly check to ensure that recommended institutional improvements are implemented early in the field to prevent heartbreaking accidents."

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