'Rider' Deaths Increase 2.6 Times in 5 Years... 12 Companies Including Baemin Sign 'Safe Workplace Creation Agreement' with Government

Minister of Employment "Welcomes Voluntary Corporate Participation... Improving Social Awareness on Delivery Rush and More"

Delivery workers from Baedal Minjok and Coupang Eats, along with officials from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) Service Federation, held a press conference to launch the Delivery Platform Workers' Union on the steps of Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 18th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Major platform companies, including Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baedal Minjok, and the government have signed an agreement to create a safe workplace for platform workers. This comes amid a nearly threefold increase in industrial accident deaths among delivery drivers (riders) in the quick service industry over the past five years.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 20th at 3 p.m. that it signed the "Agreement for Creating a Safe and Healthy Workplace for Delivery Platform Workers" with 12 food delivery platform companies including Woowa Brothers, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the National Police Agency.

The main contents of the agreement include ▲providing safety information such as traffic law compliance to platforms ▲educating workers on how to prepare for risk factors such as weather and road conditions ▲efforts to participate in the establishment process of mutual aid associations under the Act on the Development of Living Logistics Service Industry ▲efforts to improve social awareness regarding pressuring workers for faster delivery ▲securing rest spaces for workers ▲supporting the expansion of workers' employment and industrial accident insurance enrollment.

Minister of Employment and Labor Ahn Kyung-duk said, "As the delivery industry grows, the number of fatal accidents in the quick service industry increased from 7 in 2016 to 18 last year, which is significant," adding, "The agreement is meaningful in that various companies voluntarily and autonomously cooperated for the safety of workers." He continued, "This will help spread a safety culture in the delivery industry and serve as an opportunity to prevent accidents among workers," and added, "I hope this agreement will be a catalyst for establishing safe delivery in our society."