The Role of Private Disaster Prevention Grows... One-Third at 'Substandard Level'

Ministry of Employment Announces Evaluation Results of Private Disaster Prevention Agencies

As the expanded enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act approaches, demand for safety and health services is surging, but it has been found that one out of three private accident prevention institutions received below-average evaluations.

According to the evaluation results of private accident prevention institutions' work capabilities announced by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 25th, among 1,341 private accident prevention institutions across 12 fields, only 128 institutions (9.5%) received the highest grade, S grade (excellent). This was followed by 390 institutions with A grade (good), 425 with B grade (average), 229 with C grade (poor), and 140 with D grade (bad).

Including 29 institutions that did not even have performance records to be evaluated, 398 institutions received lower grades (C~D grades), accounting for about one-third (30%) of the total.

This evaluation was conducted over approximately nine months from March to November last year, comprehensively assessing items such as operational systems, the thoroughness of technical guidance, and work performance for 1,341 institutions in 12 fields, including 154 safety management specialized institutions, 227 construction accident prevention specialized guidance institutions, and 234 special health examination institutions.

Evaluation Target (Provided by: Ministry of Employment and Labor)

The Korea Industrial Health Association’s Gyeongin Regional Headquarters and Catholic University Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital received S grades for the first time since the evaluation was introduced for health management specialized institutions in 2018. The Korea Construction Safety Guidance Institute has received S grades for three consecutive years since 2021. In 2022 and last year, it was the only institution among the evaluated organizations to receive perfect scores for two consecutive years.

The private accident prevention institution evaluation system is operated to encourage institutions’ voluntary capacity improvement and to provide information so that companies can select better institutions when outsourcing safety management and other tasks to prevention institutions.

Companies outsource tasks such as safety management to private accident prevention institutions to have their workplaces inspected, but if proper operation and technical guidance are not received, the likelihood of industrial accidents increases.

From this year, the Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to expand policy support linked to evaluation grades by discovering and promoting best practices so that excellent institutions can perform more safety management tasks. It also plans to consider measures to sanction institutions that refuse evaluations without reason or have no performance records, and to advance the timing of publication so that institution evaluation results can be delivered to workplaces promptly.

Ryu Kyung-hee, head of the Industrial Safety and Health Headquarters, said, "The role of private accident prevention institutions responsible for the safety of small-scale workplaces on the front lines of industrial sites is very important to reduce industrial accidents," and added, "We will reflect the voices of workplaces more in the evaluation process so that institutions can enhance their capabilities and provide high-quality services."