[2022 National Audit] Only 2% of Industrial Accident Specialists in Public Institutions under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

Seven Organizations Including Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement Lack Specialized Personnel
Jang Cheol-min Calls for Mandatory Specialized Industrial Accident Personnel to Enhance Advanced Industrial Accident Prevention Measures

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Wanyong] It has been found that the number of industrial accident (sanjae) specialists in public institutions under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport accounts for only 2% of the total workforce.

On the 11th, Jang Cheolmin, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party, analyzed the data on the "Status of Industrial Accident Specialist Personnel and Related System Improvements and Research Status" submitted by public institutions under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The analysis confirmed that among 28 institutions (with a total workforce of 81,755), there were 1,809 industrial accident specialists.

In particular, institutions such as the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement, which is obligated under the "Act on Fostering Land, Infrastructure and Transport Science and Technology" to train personnel researching construction, architecture, and facility safety, and the Aviation Safety Technology Institute, which must train specialists for aviation safety accident prevention, had no industrial accident specialists at all. These institutions have not proposed any system improvements or conducted related research on training industrial accident specialists in the past three years.

Additionally, it was confirmed that institutions such as Korea Expressway Corporation Service, the National Aviation Museum, the Spatial Information Quality Management Institute, Korea Overseas Infrastructure Development, and the Construction Technology Education Institute also lack specialist personnel.

The institution with the highest ratio of industrial accident specialists was KORAIL Logistics, where 25.8% of the workforce were specialists. This was followed by the Korea National Railway Corporation (15.1%), Korea Expressway Corporation (6.9%), Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC) (6.1%), and Incheon International Airport Corporation (4.9%).

Assemblyman Jang Cheolmin stated, "Fundamental measures and prevention are important for the increasingly complex and diverse industrial accident prevention, but the institutions most closely related to industrial accidents are neglecting to secure specialist personnel." He added, "The ratio of industrial accident specialists should be mandated, or through related system improvements, high-quality specialists capable of preventing industrial accidents should be actively deployed on site."