[Interview] "The COVID-19 Crisis: Both a Challenge and an Opportunity to Address Industrial Safety Vulnerabilities"

Park Duyong, Chairman of Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency
Providing Masks to Construction Sites Vulnerable to Infectious Disease Prevention and Marts with High Customer Interaction

Park Doo-yong, Chairman of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, is being interviewed on the 19th at the Seoul Metropolitan Regional Headquarters of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency in Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Interview = Asia Economy Kang Hee-jong, Head of Economic Department, Organized by Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jung] "The COVID-19 pandemic should be an opportunity to overhaul various industrial safety infrastructures. Since the poor conditions that were previously overlooked have been exposed, we must take this chance to prepare countermeasures."

On the 19th of last month, Park Doo-yong, Director of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA), described the COVID-19 crisis as another 'turning point' related to industrial safety. He said it is the perfect timing to review the challenges of industrial safety that will serve as a compass in the 'post-COVID' era and to assess the vulnerabilities revealed in industrial sites by this crisis. Unfortunately, in Korea, systems and principles surrounding safety have often been firmly established only after social tragedies. Discussions on national safety systems flared up after the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster, and awareness of industrial safety is often divided into before and after the 2018 death of Kim Yong-gyun.

Regarding this, Director Park emphasized, "Industrial safety is realized when naturally formed social pressure meets the government's will, including management and supervision," adding, "With heightened tension and emphasis on safety alongside health due to COVID-19, a new benchmark can be established."

For Director Park, now in his third year of tenure, COVID-19 might be a disaster he would prefer to avoid. Last year, the agency achieved unprecedented results by drastically reducing industrial accident fatalities (855 deaths, the first time exceeding 800 since records began), and they have just introduced a new target (reducing industrial accidents to the 700s). With a bit more effort, they were about to enter a phase of labor market advancement. Director Park is also the first Asian to serve as president of the International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA). He holds a master's degree in Environmental Health from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. in Environmental Industrial Health from the University of Michigan, USA. It is clear that the current chaos caused by the disease would resonate with him uniquely, and he would have a clear vision of the best approach.

He said, "Before this incident (COVID-19), our society only considered the mental labor hardships of call center employees, but we realized that their environment was extremely vulnerable to infectious disease safety issues that could erupt at any time," emphasizing, "Currently, the agency is implementing emergency measures such as providing air purifiers, partitions, hand sanitizers, and masks, but in the long term, legal requirements should be established for ventilation standards in dense work environments, minimum personal space, and various work forms including telecommuting." He added, "We are now fully experiencing the social costs incurred when these issues are neglected, and the time has finally come to seriously discuss them."

Park Doo-yong, Chairman of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, is being interviewed on the 19th at the Seoul Metropolitan Regional Headquarters of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency in Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

- Industrial accident prevention projects are expected to face setbacks due to COVID-19. How are you coordinating this?

▲ Depending on the severity of COVID-19, we are promoting measures to minimize face-to-face contact to avoid harm to workplaces. For educational projects, livelihood-related training such as 'mobile crane or aerial work platform operator qualification training' is being operated under preventive measures like installing thermal cameras, hand sanitizing, and mask-wearing, but in a limited manner. Some trainings that must be completed within a deadline can be recognized if completed within six months. The core patrol project for industrial accident prevention conducts normal inspections at construction sites but uses patrol cars to minimize face-to-face exposure, while simultaneously providing masks and COVID-19 prevention guidelines on-site. For manufacturing industries where face-to-face contact is unavoidable, project execution is temporarily suspended while monitoring the infectious disease spread situation.

- Are there direct supports related to COVID-19?

▲ In early February, we distributed 720,000 masks to small construction sites vulnerable to infectious diseases, manufacturing workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, and workplaces employing foreigners. In March, an additional 800,000 masks were distributed, prioritizing supermarkets with many customer-facing tasks and manufacturing workplaces employing foreigners. In Daegu Metropolitan City, we urgently supplied 240 sets of personal protective equipment (Level D Kit) including full-body protective suits, shoe covers, goggles, masks, and sterile gloves, as well as 3,400 impermeable protective suits. Recently, for about 1,000 call centers, we supported the installation of simple partitions, air purifiers, non-contact thermometers, hand sanitizers, and mask purchase costs through the industrial accident prevention facility fund subsidy project, covering up to 70% of expenses up to 20 million KRW.

- Is the government's 'Project to halve fatal accidents by 2022' still valid?

▲ Industrial accidents have become a national issue that must be addressed from the perspective of industrial competitiveness and the national economy. The government has set a goal to reduce annual fatal industrial accidents to below 500 by 2022 and achieve a fatal accident rate of 0.27 per 100,000 workers. Considering Korea's economic scale, income level, and technological level, the number of industrial accident fatalities is at least twice as high as countries with similar levels. About half of the current fatal industrial accidents are simple accidents such as falls or entrapments, which can be prevented with a little attention and investment at workplaces without enormous resources or technology. In short, it was judged that the number of industrial accident fatalities must be halved unconditionally, and it is believed that this is achievable.

- Measures for platform workers are delayed and do not match market maturity. What is the preparation status?

▲ Platform workers are a new form of employment mediated by digital platforms such as applications, characterized by the absence of a clear employer. Fortunately, the revised Occupational Safety and Health Act, which came into effect this year, provides a legal basis for protecting platform workers. Employers hiring them must implement safety and health prevention measures, and if they get injured while working, they can receive industrial accident compensation. The agency plans to evaluate the safety and health management levels of workplaces where many special-type workers like platform workers are employed. The bottom 30% of workplaces with low levels will be encouraged to improve through labor ministry supervision requests to raise workplace safety and health standards. It will be difficult to solve platform worker issues with a single legal or institutional measure. We will continue to pay attention and prepare additional measures.

- You have served as president of the International Occupational Hygiene Association and conducted related research on health and hygiene. How do you view the progression of this crisis?

▲ There are concerns that, due to the rapid transmission speed and the large number of elderly exposed to this disease, we must prepare for a long-term battle. Even assuming COVID-19 will not end in the short term, we need to explore measures for ongoing response. However, Korea responded relatively quickly and effectively by utilizing diagnostic kits and mask-wearing. Judgments on social distancing and early education were also swift. From a macro perspective, I think this is a backlash of rapid globalization.

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