Ministry of Employment and Labor and Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency Resolve Employment Difficulties for Plant Construction Workers

On the 28th, the Ulsan Regional Employment and Labor Office held the ‘Agreement Ceremony for the Improvement of Pre-Placement Health Examinations for Plant Workers’ at the Ulsan Museum Auditorium and will apply the on-site improvement project starting March 1.

Among Ulsan’s major industries, chemical and other plant industries involve tens of thousands of plant construction workers each year participating in equipment maintenance, repair, and expansion projects due to aging facilities and facility expansions.

These industrial sites handle hazardous chemicals, so workers must undergo health examinations (pre-placement health examinations) in accordance with the Industrial Safety and Health Act before being assigned to work.

However, due to a shortage of diagnostic institutions in the Ulsan area, some workers had to wait for long hours for examinations or travel outside the Ulsan region for remote diagnoses.

Additionally, the practice of repeatedly requiring similar diagnostic items for each change of work site due to differences in handled substances has become common, causing an average of 25,000 to 30,000 plant construction workers in Ulsan each year to experience inconvenience before employment.

Accordingly, since October last year, the Ulsan Regional Employment and Labor Office has been working with related organizations and companies to resolve the inconveniences faced by workers at plant construction sites.

As a result, the issues of long waiting times and out-of-region diagnoses were resolved by administrative interpretation allowing diagnostic institutions to conduct pre-placement health examinations without being restricted by the limit of 10,000 examinees per doctor.

Officials from the Ulsan Regional Employment and Labor Office, Ulsan Regional Headquarters of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, the National Plant Construction Labor Union, special health examination institutions, and chemical-related companies in the Ulsan area are posing for a commemorative photo after signing the "Agreement to Improve Pre-Assignment Health Examinations for Plant Workers."

The problem of repetitive and duplicate examinations required at each site change was improved through continuous consultations with the Ulsan Regional Headquarters of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, petrochemical and plant workplaces, and special health examination institutions, allowing changes within the legally prescribed period of six months without additional separate examinations after one pre-placement examination.

Among the 17 major companies participating in the consultation, including SK Energy and S-Oil, free movement and placement work without additional examinations are possible, and efforts will continue to expand on-site adoption through ongoing system guidance and promotion for companies not participating in the agreement.

Kim Jun-hwi, head of the Ulsan Employment and Labor Office, said, “With this improvement plan, related companies in the Ulsan area are expected to save about 2.5 billion KRW annually in total costs,” adding, “Approximately 200 to 300 plant construction workers will have much of the inconvenience caused by long examination waiting times and duplicate examinations before employment alleviated.”

He continued, “We appreciate the companies and institutions that actively participated by listening to the voices of plant site workers and empathizing with the need to resolve their difficulties,” and added, “The Ulsan Employment and Labor Office will continue to carefully examine unnecessary practices in industrial sites and actively implement administration to improve workers’ working environments.”