828 Industrial Accident Deaths Last Year... Only About 20% of Workplaces Subject to the Serious Accident Punishment Act

Manual and Consulting Support Dominates... Effectiveness in Question

Investigation Deployed to 7 District Offices for Compliance with Serious Accident Punishment Act

Management of Suspected Occupational Disease Cases through 6 Regional Base Hospitals Nationwide

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Although the number of workers who lost their lives due to industrial accidents last year decreased compared to the previous year, it failed to enter the 700s. With the Serious Accident Punishment Act, which allows for the punishment of CEOs, coming into effect on the 27th, it was revealed that the fatality rate in small-scale workplaces, where the law does not actually apply, reached the 70% range. The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced plans to conduct a monthly "On-site Inspection Day" to check compliance with the three major safety rules, including fall and entrapment risk prevention measures and mandatory use of essential protective equipment, and to investigate violations of the Serious Accident Punishment Act together with prosecutors at local labor offices.

On the 10th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor held a briefing on the "2022 Industrial Accident Fatality Reduction Promotion Direction Following the Enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act" and made these announcements. Although the 828 deaths last year were the lowest since statistics began in 1999, the Moon Jae-in administration, which took office in 2017, failed to halve the number of industrial accident fatalities during its term.

Industrial Accident Fatalities Decreased... But Falls and Entrapment Accidents Persist

The number of industrial accident fatalities dropped from 964 in 2017 to 855 in 2019, then rose to 882 in 2020. Last year, it decreased to 828. The Moon Jae-in administration's goal to reduce industrial accident fatalities to below 500 during its term was not achieved.

Industrial accident fatalities still occurred most frequently in the construction industry, accounting for 50.3% of the total last year. Falls and entrapment accidents, which are highly likely to lead to serious accidents, accounted for 53.9% of all accidents. Since these are so-called "traditional accidents" that can be prevented simply by wearing essential protective equipment, this result is even more painful. However, the number of deaths decreased from 458 in 2020 to 417 last year.

Manuals and Consulting Support Predominant... Scale Expanded

To reduce repeated industrial accident fatalities, the government has imposed an obligation on primary contractors’ management to establish safety and health management systems. The related budget increased from 977 billion won last year to 1.0921 trillion won this year. Since August last year, the government has been distributing guidebooks, explanatory materials, and industry-specific self-checklists.

Going forward, plans include ▲distributing separate FAQs for industrial sites (within this week) ▲disseminating operation manuals for the Industrial Safety and Health Committee by the end of this month ▲consulting for 3,500 companies with 50 to 299 employees. In particular, about 1,700 construction companies subject to the Serious Accident Punishment Act with construction projects worth 5 billion won or more will be guided to conduct self-assessments using self-checklists, and consulting support will be provided to small and medium-sized construction companies ranked 201st or lower in construction order among these companies.

Joint Investigation by District Offices and Prosecutors... Strengthened Supervision of Small-scale Workplaces

Investigations and supervision are expected to be strengthened. Following the amendment of the Judicial Police Duties Act on the 4th, personnel from the Metropolitan Serious Industrial Accident Management Division of seven local labor offices will be deployed to investigate violations of the Industrial Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accident Punishment Act related to serious industrial accidents. The investigation will focus on whether hazardous and dangerous factors causing accidents were tolerated or neglected. A cooperative system will be established with the "Serious Accident Punishment Act Response Task Force (TF)" within the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to organize legal issues and standardize investigation procedures regarding illegality.

Supervision and on-site inspections of small-scale workplaces will be strengthened. For small and medium construction sites with project sizes between 100 million and 5 billion won, concentrated supervision will be conducted after selecting poor sites through patrol inspections. Ultra-small sites with less than 100 million won in project size will be intensively managed focusing on high-risk tasks such as roofing and temporary scaffolding. In manufacturing, self-checklists will be distributed and collected, and accident cases will be disseminated regularly for high-risk machinery workplaces such as those prone to entrapment. Sites identified as poor through self-checks and patrol inspections will be subject to focused supervision. Additionally, the "On-site Inspection Day," which was held biweekly last year, will continue to be held monthly this year.

Rapid Intervention for Suspected Occupational Disease Cases through Nationwide Hub Hospitals

The government decided to establish a prevention system to ensure that patients with 24 occupational diseases announced during the legislative notice process of the Serious Accident Punishment Act Enforcement Decree in June last year do not die. To this end, starting in March, "Occupational Disease Monitoring Centers" will be operated at hub hospitals in Seoul, Jungbu, Chungcheong, Jeolla, Gyeongbuk, and Gyeongnam. They will monitor suspected occupational disease cases in real time and intervene promptly to prevent deterioration into serious industrial accidents.

Furthermore, starting August 18, fines of 15 million won will be imposed on employers who do not install rest facilities, and fines of 10 million won will be imposed on employers who violate standards.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor urged management and labor to comply with the law and establish safety and health management systems. The ministry emphasized, "Management must have firm leadership on safety to build the system and inform and share safety management goals with their workers." To workers, it earnestly requested, "Please follow basic safety rules during work through 'pre-work safety meetings' and other measures."

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