[2023 National Audit] Economic Losses from Industrial Accidents Reach 33 Trillion Won... Increased 1.5 Times Over 5 Years

Park Dae-su, Member of the National Assembly of the People Power Party

The economic losses caused by industrial accidents have been increasing every year, surpassing 33 trillion won last year.

According to the National Assembly inspection data submitted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor to Park Dae-su, a member of the Environment and Labor Committee of the People Power Party, the labor loss amount due to industrial accidents increased by more than 50% over the past five years, from approximately 22.18 trillion won in 2017 to about 33.43 trillion won last year.

The industrial accident loss amount is calculated by combining compensation payments for industrial accidents and indirect losses. Indirect losses refer to losses incurred by companies due to property damage and production stoppages. It is generally estimated to be four times the amount of industrial accident compensation payments.

The loss amount has been increasing every year, including in 2022 when the Serious Accidents Punishment Act was enforced. As of July this year, it has already exceeded approximately 20.71 trillion won.

Park said, "In particular, last year, the total national budget was about 607.7 trillion won, but the labor loss amount due to industrial accidents exceeded 33 trillion won," adding, "This means that more than 5% of the entire national budget was lost due to industrial accidents."

The number of 'labor loss days'?days when workers could not work at workplaces due to industrial accidents?also increased significantly despite the government's commitment to 'eradicate industrial accidents.'

According to Park, labor loss days surged from about 47.35 million days in 2017 to approximately 60.7 million days last year. Over the past six years, the total labor loss days due to industrial accidents amounted to about 331.19 million days, which corresponds to approximately 907,000 years when converted to an annual basis.

Park stated, "Industrial accidents not only threaten the lives and safety of the people but also cause enormous damage to the national economy," and added, "We must establish a completely new paradigm of industrial accident prevention policies that are entirely different from the existing ones to erase the stigma that, although our economy is advanced, industrial accidents remain at a backward level."

Park Dae-su, a member of the People Power Party and the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee. (File photo)

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