Ministry of Employment and Labor Inspects 3,200 Manufacturing and Construction Sites Nationwide
6,300 Correction Requests...109 Defective Sites Shifted to Supervision
Minister: "Strict Administrative and Legal Actions for Violations Found in August Surprise Inspections"
[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Six out of ten manufacturing and construction sites nationwide were found to have risks of entrapment and falls. There were as many as 109 sites with seriously poor safety management conditions. An Kyung-duk, Minister of Employment and Labor, emphasized, "If a workplace is caught with poor safety measures during the surprise inspections to be conducted next month, we will definitely take administrative and legal actions."
The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 4th the results of a nationwide simultaneous inspection of entrapment and fall hazards at manufacturing and construction sites conducted on the 'Day of On-site Inspection for Three Major Safety Measures' on the 28th of last month. This was the second inspection following the fall accident site inspection of 3,545 construction sites nationwide on the 14th of last month. This time, the inspection simultaneously checked entrapment risk factors at manufacturing sites and fall risk factors at construction sites.
As a result of the inspection, out of a total of 3,264 sites, 2,094 sites (64.2%) were found to have inadequate safety measures. Among entrapment risk factors, the most frequently pointed out issue was failure to implement protective measures such as covers and fences, detected at 490 sites (22.1% of 2,214 inspected workplaces). This was followed by inadequate forklift safety measures at 402 sites (18.2%) and failure to wear personal protective equipment at 275 sites (12.4%). Among fall risk factors (overlapping counts), the most common issues were lack of safety railings at 572 sites (54.5% of 1,050 inspected workplaces), failure to wear personal protective equipment at 443 sites (42.2%), and lack of work platforms at 322 sites (30.7%).
The Ministry requested a total of 6,385 corrective actions at the 2,094 workplaces with deficiencies. They announced plans to convert 109 sites with particularly poor entrapment safety management (61 sites) and fall safety management (48 sites) to industrial safety and health supervision. For entrapment-related sites, 13 will be supervised and 48 will undergo patrol inspections (surprise inspections). For fall-related sites, 5 will be supervised and 43 will be inspected.
Meanwhile, among the 3,264 workplaces subject to this comprehensive inspection, 347 sites (10.6%) were found to have violated heat illness prevention rules such as providing water, shade, and rest. Considering that heatstroke is recognized as a serious accident under the Enforcement Decree of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act announced by the government last month, if such situations are left unattended, these workplaces may be considered illegal after the Serious Accidents Punishment Act is enforced next year.
Minister An said, "Through two rounds of simultaneous inspections, we confirmed that basic safety rules are still not being followed at industrial sites," adding, "Next month, we will conduct unannounced surprise inspections, link workplaces with poor safety measures to supervision, and firmly enforce administrative and legal actions."
He also stated, "The government has secured 45.9 billion KRW in the second supplementary budget to support hazardous and dangerous facility improvements and safety and health management technical support for small and medium-sized enterprises," and added, "We will actively support the establishment of safety management systems for small businesses lacking safety management capabilities."
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