Moon Administration Fails to Meet Industrial Accident Death Reduction Target... "Pursuing Amendment of Industrial Safety Act to Introduce Worker Reporting System"

Half of the 964 Deaths in 2017 Made, 790 Already Dead from January to November This Year

Promotion of Reporting System for Negligent Employers

Holding Clients, Designers, Constructors, and Supervisors All Accountable
"Cooperation with the National Assembly for Enacting the 'Construction Safety Special Act'" Cemented

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] It has been revealed that the Moon Jae-in administration failed to achieve its target for reducing industrial accident fatalities. In response, the government plans to amend the Industrial Safety and Health Act to introduce a system allowing workers to report employers who neglect hazardous factors. Next year, a new support project for safety and health management system consulting will be launched targeting 2,000 small and medium-sized enterprises. Despite industry opposition, the government has firmly stated that it will cooperate with the National Assembly to enact the Construction Safety Special Act as soon as possible. This is part of an effort to accelerate the identification of supplementary tasks ahead of the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act in about a month.

On the 15th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor officially announced, "As of the end of November this year, there were 790 industrial accident fatalities," and explained the future policy direction. The number of industrial accident fatalities was 964 annually in 2017 when the Moon Jae-in administration took office, and slightly decreased to 790 from January to November this year. However, this number was higher than the administration’s target of 616 for this year and 505 for next year. Last year, the fatalities increased by 27 to 882 compared to 2019, prompting an urgent revision of this year’s target to a 20% reduction from last year (below 705), but even this was not achieved. Although the budget for industrial accident prevention projects increased from 419.8 billion won last year to 977 billion won this year, and the Industrial Safety and Health Headquarters was newly established in July, the results were not significant.

Status of Industrial Accident Fatalities by Year. (Data=Ministry of Employment and Labor)

The Ministry of Employment and Labor explained that except for last year, the number of industrial accident fatalities has shown a decreasing trend. According to official statistics based on industrial accident approval criteria, the fatalities were in the 900s during 2017-2018, 855 in 2019, and 790 from January to November this year. The number of fatalities this year decreased by 25 compared to the same period last year. The ministry stated, "Since 2018, the government has set public safety as a core value and is doing its utmost by mobilizing all policy capabilities and means to halve industrial accident fatalities by next year as part of the 'Three Major Projects to Protect Citizens' Lives.'"

With the Serious Accidents Punishment Act set to be enforced from January 27 next year to drastically reduce industrial accident fatalities, the ministry emphasized that it will focus on identifying additional supplementary tasks. Notably, it specifically mentioned legislative tasks such as pushing for amendments to the Industrial Safety and Health Act to introduce a worker reporting system and suggesting the enactment of the Construction Safety Special Act.

The government plans to actively consult with the National Assembly to promote amendments to the Industrial Safety and Health Act necessary for introducing the worker reporting system. The system will legally enable workers to request additional safety and health measures from employers in urgent industrial accident risk situations and report to the Ministry of Employment and Labor if refused. The ministry also announced plans to accelerate the enactment of the Construction Safety Special Act. A ministry official said, "We plan to cooperate with the National Assembly to ensure that the law is enacted quickly so that safety responsibilities correspond to the authority of all construction stakeholders, from project owners to designers, constructors, and supervisors."

Additionally, the ministry revealed plans to ▲disseminate safety and health management systems at industrial sites ▲focus technical and financial support on small-scale workplaces such as construction sites with project costs under 100 million won and manufacturing businesses with fewer than 50 workers. A ministry official stated, "The government will thoroughly manage implementation so that additional initiatives permeate the field and produce noticeable reductions in industrial accident fatalities, and actively promote the enactment and revision of related laws in cooperation with the National Assembly."

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