Party and Government Allocate 1.2 Trillion Won Budget for Serious Crime Punishment Act Preparation...Focused Support for 80,000 High-Risk Small Businesses

Support Measures for Companies Vulnerable to Major Accidents
Support for Establishing Safety and Health Management Systems in Small and Medium Enterprises

The government will invest a budget of 1.2 trillion won next year to support the improvement of working environments in small businesses vulnerable to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. In particular, intensive consulting will be provided to about 80,000 companies weak in safety management, and support will be given so that companies that find it difficult to individually hire safety managers can jointly hire experts. Additionally, 4,000 safety management personnel who can be immediately deployed on site will be trained.

On the 27th, Yoo Ui-dong, the Policy Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, and Lee Jeong-sik, Minister of Employment and Labor, among others, are holding a party-government consultation on support measures for vulnerable sectors to serious accidents at the National Assembly.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The ruling party, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and other related ministries held a party-government consultation meeting at the National Assembly on the 27th and announced the ‘Support Measures for Companies Vulnerable to Serious Accidents.’ This is a comprehensive support measure for small businesses with less developed safety management capabilities, amid ongoing discussions at the National Assembly to postpone the application of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act to workplaces with fewer than 50 employees for two years. To this end, the government decided to increase the related budget by 100 billion won from this year’s 1.1 trillion won to 1.2 trillion won.

First, the government plans to form a ‘Public-Private Joint Serious Accident Countermeasure Task Force’ and have all 837,000 workplaces with fewer than 50 employees conduct their own ‘Industrial Safety Diagnosis’ by February next year. Through this, the government will classify workplaces into ‘priority management workplaces’ and ‘general workplaces’ according to the risk level of accidents and provide customized support measures. For priority management workplaces with high accident risks, the safety and health management system will be strengthened through consulting and support for improving hazardous facilities. A Ministry of Employment and Labor official explained, “The government has identified about 80,000 high-risk workplaces so far,” adding, “Since about 70% of all serious accident cases occur at these workplaces, intensive support is deemed necessary.”

Companies with fewer than 50 employees to jointly hire safety managers... 4,000 safety experts to be trained

Financial support will also be provided to enable companies with fewer than 50 employees to jointly hire safety managers. The government views one of the main reasons small businesses are inadequately prepared for the Serious Accidents Punishment Act as the difficulty in individually employing experts, and thus supports about 20 small workplaces within industrial complexes to jointly hire experts. A Ministry of Employment and Labor official said, “A budget of 2.5 million won per month has been secured for about eight months, and whether to provide additional support will be reviewed.”

A new track for training safety experts who can be quickly deployed on site will also be established. Through specialized training courses at the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, 4,000 safety management personnel with practical experience will be trained annually. Departments specializing in industrial safety will also be newly established at institutions such as Korea University of Technology and Education. Furthermore, engineering and natural science majors who complete a certain number of industrial safety-related credits will be recognized as qualified safety managers. A Ministry of Employment and Labor official stated, “Currently, there are 180,000 managers with certifications, but many are not deployed on company sites,” adding, “Even those without official certifications will be able to work as safety experts if they complete related training.”

However, the comprehensive measures prepared by the ruling party and government have a strong political undertone aimed at the opposition party. The Serious Accidents Punishment Act stipulates punishment for business owners who fail to fulfill their prevention duties when serious accidents occur at workplaces. The government and ruling party are in favor of postponing the application of the Act to small and medium-sized enterprises, which was scheduled to take effect in January next year, by two more years. They judge that since small businesses currently have poor safety-related personnel and budgets, immediate enforcement of the law would cause considerable confusion. In response, the opposition party has set three conditions for the postponement: an apology from the government for insufficient preparation for the Act’s application, a two-year preparation plan and budget for the law’s enforcement, and a government and economic organizations’ promise to implement the law without fail after two years.