The Korea Employers Federation held a policy meeting on the 22nd to reduce the side effects of the full application of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act to small businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
On this day, the Federation held the 'Serious Accident Prevention Policy Meeting' at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Safety officers from 17 major companies across various industries attended the meeting.
The Serious Accidents Punishment Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) includes provisions to punish business owners or management officials when serious industrial accidents such as deaths occur. It was implemented for large corporations starting January 2022 and has gradually expanded its scope of application. From the 27th of last month, it was extended to small workplaces with fewer than 50 employees.
Lee Dong-geun, the full-time vice chairman of the Federation, said, "Many small and medium-sized enterprises, unprepared under harsh management conditions, are facing situations that will be difficult to handle in the future," adding, "Without a grace period for the application of the Act, there are limits to resolving side effects, so we hope the government will continue to promote expanded support for small workplaces and legal amendments."
The Federation is making various efforts to alleviate the difficulties of small workplaces inadequately responding to the Act. It plans to establish a 'Serious Accident Support Center' within the Federation to support industrial accident prevention and consistently raise its voice for amendments to the relevant legislation.
The vice chairman also urged companies, "To prevent serious accidents, please strengthen cooperative relationships with partner companies and seek various support measures for vulnerable safety groups to expand social responsibility."
Ryu Kyung-hee, director of the Industrial Safety and Health Headquarters at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, who attended the meeting, said, "In connection with ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) safety management, we ask for active efforts and interest not only in company safety management but also in win-win cooperation to improve the safety capabilities of surrounding small and medium-sized enterprises."
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