828 Workers Died from Industrial Accidents Last Year... 81% Not Covered by Serious Accidents Punishment Act

80.9% of Fatalities Occurred at Workplaces Not Covered by the Serious Accidents Punishment Act
18 Delivery Workers Died, Fatalities Rose Amid COVID-19

On November 28 last year, young union members held a rally near Seoul City Hall at the "KCTU Youth Workers' Assembly," demanding the guarantee of quality jobs for youth and the creation of a safe working environment. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

It was found that 828 workers died from industrial accidents last year. Of these, 80.9% occurred at workplaces not subject to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which came into effect on January 27.

On March 15, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the 2021 statistics on fatal industrial accidents. Over the past five years, the number of annual industrial accident fatalities was 964 in 2017, 971 in 2018, 855 in 2019, 882 in 2020, and 828 last year. Since the government began compiling these statistics in 1999, last year marked the lowest number of fatalities on record.

The 'fatal accident rate per 10,000 workers,' which refers to the number of industrial accident deaths per 10,000 workers covered by industrial accident insurance, was also at a record low of 0.43 last year. By industry, construction accounted for 417 deaths (50.4%), representing half of the total, followed by manufacturing with 184 deaths (22.2%), and 'other industries' with 227 deaths (27.4%).

Among 'other industries,' deaths of delivery workers increased. The number rose from 2 in 2017, to 7 in 2018, 7 in 2019, 17 in 2020, and 18 last year. The surge in delivery services due to the spread of COVID-19 is believed to have contributed to this sharp increase in fatalities.

By workplace size, there were 352 deaths (42.5%) at workplaces with 5-49 employees, 318 deaths (38.4%) at workplaces with fewer than 5 employees, 110 deaths (13.3%) at workplaces with 50-299 employees, and 48 deaths (5.8%) at workplaces with 300 or more employees. Currently, 80.9% of all fatal accidents last year occurred at small workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, which are not subject to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (workplaces with fewer than 5 employees are completely exempt from the law). For workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, the law will take effect after a two-year grace period, starting January 27, 2024.

When looking at the types of accidents, traditional accidents such as falls and entrapments accounted for more than half of the cases. There were 351 deaths from falls (42.4%), 95 from entrapments (11.5%), 72 from collisions (8.7%), 54 from being crushed or overturned (6.5%), and 52 from being struck by objects (6.3%). By age, there were 352 deaths (42.5%) among workers aged 60 and above, followed by 251 deaths (30.3%) among those aged 50-59, 117 deaths (14.1%) among those aged 40-49, 71 deaths (8.6%) among those aged 30-39, and 37 deaths (4.5%) among those aged 18-29.

Last year, 36 specially employed workers (special employment types) died from industrial accidents, an increase of 7 from the previous year. The largest group was quick service delivery drivers with 18 deaths, followed by 9 cargo truck owners, 7 construction equipment operators, and 1 parcel delivery driver and 1 substitute driver. The Ministry of Employment and Labor explained that this increase was due to the expansion of special employment types covered by industrial accident insurance, which is the basis for these statistics.

Kwon Kisub, Director of the Industrial Safety and Health Bureau at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, stated, "Companies are still lacking in establishing safety and health management systems," and added, "Now that the Serious Accidents Punishment Act is in effect, companies must establish and manage robust safety and health systems to reduce fatal accidents."

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