Emergency COVID-19 Prevention Inspection at 1,000 Workplaces with Many Foreign Workers

Response Measures for Cluster Infection at Namyangju Plastic Factory
Fines Imposed for Violating Quarantine Rules

On the 17th, quarantine authorities conducted comprehensive testing of workers at Jingwan Industrial Complex in Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, where a COVID-19 cluster infection occurred, in front of a company within the complex. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government has launched an emergency quarantine inspection to prevent COVID-19 cluster outbreaks at workplaces with many foreign workers.

On the 21st, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced, "From the 22nd to the 2nd of next month, we will conduct emergency inspections of 500 manufacturing workplaces and 500 construction sites, focusing on industrial complexes where many foreign workers are employed."

The main inspection targets are foreign employment companies in areas densely populated by foreign workers, such as Siwha Industrial Complex (Siheung and Ansan, Gyeonggi Province), Geomdan Industrial Complex (Seo-gu, Incheon), Hakun Industrial Complex (Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province), and Cheonan Industrial Complex (Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do).

This is a response measure following a series of cluster infections among foreign workers, including more than 100 foreign workers testing positive at a plastic manufacturing company in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to notify local governments to impose fines if quarantine rule violations are detected at the emergency inspection sites and will conduct joint inspections with local governments.

During workplace supervision by labor inspectors targeting 13,000 sites annually and patrol inspections by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency under the Ministry of Employment and Labor covering 70,000 sites, compliance with quarantine rules will be prioritized.

They will check whether mask-wearing, temperature measurement, installation of restaurant partitions, and restrictions on the number of people in dormitory communal facilities are properly observed.

COVID-19 quarantine rule education will be recognized as mandatory training under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and foreign employers who complete the related training will receive additional points when assigning new foreign personnel.

Quarantine rules written in 16 foreign languages will be distributed to foreign worker support centers and others.

Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap said, "Through short-term intensive inspections of vulnerable workplaces, establishment of infection monitoring systems, and infectious disease prevention education, we will make every effort to prevent COVID-19 at workplaces, including those employing foreign workers."