40.8% of SMEs with fewer than 50 Employees Say Compliance with Serious Accident Punishment Act Is Impossible

Evaluation of the Serious Accident Punishment Act for SMEs and Safety Management Survey Results
'58.9% Say at Least a 2-Year Postponement of Implementation Is Needed'

40.8% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 50 employees reported that it is impossible to comply with mandatory requirements by the enforcement date of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.

The Korea Federation of SMEs (Chairman Kim Ki-moon) announced the results of the "Evaluation of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and Safety Management Status Survey for SMEs," conducted on 500 SMEs with 5 to fewer than 300 employees, on the 7th. This survey was conducted about seven months before the application of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act to workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, to assess the evaluation of the Act and the status of safety management in the SME sector.

The survey results showed that 40.8% of SMEs with fewer than 50 employees responded that it is "impossible" to comply with mandatory requirements by the enforcement date of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. Among them, more than half (58.9%) said that a "minimum two-year postponement of the enforcement date" is necessary.

For SMEs with 50 or more employees, which have already been subject to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act since January 27 of last year, more than half (50.4%) expanded their safety-related budgets and personnel after the Act's enforcement, but one in three (34.8%) still failed to comply with mandatory requirements. The main reason cited was a "lack of specialized personnel" (77.8%).

Among the mandatory requirements of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, SMEs evaluated "establishing procedures for identifying and improving harmful and dangerous factors such as risk assessments, inspections, and necessary measures (Enforcement Decree Article 4, Clause 3)" (16.0%) as the most effective in preventing serious accidents.

However, 39.2% of workplaces with fewer than 50 employees responded that they have never conducted risk assessments or conduct them less than once a year, citing "lack of safety specialists or personnel to perform the tasks" (46.9%) as the reason for not conducting risk assessments.

Furthermore, despite the government significantly increasing the budget for industrial accident prevention support to over 1 trillion won after the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, only 16.0% of SMEs are currently using or have experience using industrial accident prevention support projects. Among the reasons, 49.5% answered that they "do not know well what support projects are available," indicating an urgent need for the government to actively guide and promote industrial accident prevention support projects.

Lee Myung-ro, Head of the Human Resources Policy Division at the Korea Federation of SMEs, said, "With the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act scheduled for January 27 next year, concerns among micro SMEs with fewer than 50 employees are very high." He added, "Since the government is operating a task force to improve the Serious Accidents Punishment Act regulations, it is necessary to extend the grace period by at least two years to secure preparation time for micro SMEs and actively reflect the voices from the SME field to establish more effective serious accident prevention policies."