Construction Sites Are Also Running Out of 'Safety Managers'

An apartment construction site in Gyeonggi-do / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

"Even if we raise the annual salary by 15 to 20 million KRW, finding experienced personnel is like finding a needle in a haystack. If someone has just one Industrial Safety Engineer certificate, we hire them immediately."

With the enactment of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and the revision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which have strengthened construction safety regulations, the shortage of safety managers at construction sites is intensifying. Due to the nature of safety management work, not only certifications but also field experience are very important, but since the demand for personnel cannot keep up with supply, there are frequent cases where hiring decisions are made based solely on having the certificate.

The manpower shortage is also evident in job postings. According to the career tech platform Saramin, as of the 26th, the number of job postings for the position of "Safety Manager" in the "Construction & Architecture" field reached 2,418. This accounts for 12.8% of the total construction & architecture postings (18,880). Excluding the broadly scoped "Public Works" (3,214 postings), it is the highest proportion among job-specific postings. It even exceeds site managers (12.1%, 2,285 postings), electrical engineers (9.4%, 1,782 postings), and architectural engineers (8.4%, 1,596 postings).

The increase in demand for construction safety personnel is due to institutional factors. With the enactment of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, companies are obligated to implement various safety and health measures, including establishing dedicated safety and health organizations. Additionally, the revision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act expanded the scope of projects requiring the appointment of safety managers. The thresholds are 8 billion KRW from July 1, 2021, 6 billion KRW from July 1, 2022, and 5 billion KRW from July 1, 2023.

The supply-demand imbalance is likely to worsen. According to the Korea Association of Construction Technicians, the number of construction technicians in safety management increased by 6,702 from 24,196 in 2017 to 30,898 in 2021 over the past five years. This averages about 1,400 per year. According to the "Measures to Improve the Supply-Demand Imbalance of Safety Managers Due to Strengthened Construction Accident Prevention" report released last year by the Construction Human Resources Development Committee, the additional demand for safety managers in the construction industry will reach approximately 5,300 by 2023. Even if about 1,400 personnel are deployed to construction sites annually, it will be difficult to meet the demand.

The manpower shortage particularly impacts small and medium-sized construction companies. A representative from a specialized construction company said, "The annual salary for safety managers with more than five years of experience has increased by about 20% in one year," adding, "Because of the increased value, and since large companies sometimes hire safety managers as regular employees, many move to those companies." He added, "Small and medium-sized companies find it difficult to establish dedicated safety organizations due to their circumstances and cannot afford the high wage structure," and warned, "There could be situations where construction cannot proceed because safety managers cannot be found."

This is why there are calls for the government to actively prepare manpower supply measures and provide support targeting small and medium-sized companies to resolve the supply-demand imbalance. Choi Soo-young, a research fellow at the Korea Research Institute for Construction Industry, argued, "To minimize the supply-demand imbalance of safety managers in the construction industry, it is necessary to postpone the mandatory appointment regulation of safety managers for projects under 8 billion KRW." He also added that to expand the supply of safety managers, "Reintroducing the safety manager qualification recognition system through education completion and considering measures such as supporting labor costs for safety managers in small and medium-sized construction companies could be explored."