[2020 National Audit] Industrial Accident Rate of Special Employment Workers Tripled in the Last 5 Years

Yoon Jun-byeong: "The Special Employment Workers' Industrial Accident Exclusion Application System Must Be Abolished"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The industrial accident rate among special employment workers (SEWs) has tripled over the past five years.

According to data titled ‘2015-2019 SEW Industrial Accident Insurance Application and Medical Care Approval Status’ submitted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor to Yoon Joon-byung, a member of the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, in 2015, the actual number of SEW industrial accident insurance applicants was 44,497, with 283 medical care approvals, resulting in an accident rate of 0.64%. In 2019, the actual applicants increased to 74,170, with 1,445 medical care approvals, recording an accident rate of 1.95%, more than tripling.

The number of medical care approvals increased annually as follows: ▲283 cases in 2015 ▲399 cases in 2016 ▲586 cases in 2017 ▲815 cases in 2018 ▲1,445 cases in 2019, showing more than a fivefold increase in 2019 compared to 2015.

Reflecting the high-risk exposure characteristic of SEWs, their accident rate was significantly higher than the industrial accident rate across all industries. In 2019, the SEW accident rate was 1.95%, which is 3.4 times higher than the overall industrial accident rate of 0.58%. By industry in 2019, construction machinery operators had the highest accident rate at 19.15%, followed by quick service couriers at 7.74%, delivery couriers at 1.66%, and golf course caddies at 1.16%.

Assemblyman Yoon said, “The accident rate of SEWs has more than tripled and is 3.4 times higher than the general accident rate, showing how dangerous the working environment is for SEWs. We will work on revising the law to completely abolish the SEW industrial accident insurance exclusion application system so that all SEWs can receive industrial accident benefits.”