[Opinion] Commitment to Preventing Serious Accidents? It Depends on Participation in the 'Safety Inspection'

Kim Hyo-gyu, Head of Safety Culture Team, Busan Regional Headquarters, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency

Although our country has achieved significant economic growth, it is regrettable that we have not yet joined the ranks of advanced countries in terms of industrial accidents.

To drastically reduce serious accidents, the government enacted the “Serious Accidents Punishment Act” on January 27, 2022, and this law was expanded to apply to all workplaces with five or more employees starting January 27 of this year.

Shortly after, on January 31, a fatal accident occurred at a waste disposal company in Busan. Not only are the victim and their family devastated, but employees are also suffering from mental distress such as trauma from witnessing the accident. Additionally, due to work stoppages and business closures, they have lost their jobs and are reportedly struggling with livelihood concerns, including for their families.

This workplace had about 10 regular employees and appeared to be inadequately prepared to establish a safety and health management system or to properly implement risk assessments, which makes the situation even more regrettable.

In small and medium-sized workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, the essential conditions required by the Serious Accidents Punishment Act for establishing a safety and health management system are often not in place. Accordingly, the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) is promoting the “Industrial Safety Diagnosis” project to help workplaces with fewer than 50 employees prepare for the expanded enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.

The Industrial Safety Diagnosis is a program where small and medium-sized workplaces self-assess their level of safety and health management system establishment and implementation. For areas that are insufficient or lacking, KOSHA is working to improve safety levels and prevent accidents by linking customized government support programs such as consulting on safety and health management system establishment, risk assessment consulting, financial support to improve hazardous factors, and safety and health education.

By accessing the KOSHA website or scanning a QR code via mobile, workplaces can self-assess 10 items, check the level of their safety and health management system, and apply for government support programs for areas needing improvement.

KOSHA operates the Industrial Safety Diagnosis Consultation and Support Center for this purpose. However, out of approximately 830,000 workplaces nationwide with fewer than 50 employees, only about 200,000 have participated in the Industrial Safety Diagnosis, indicating that preparations to prevent serious accidents are still insufficient.

Workplaces with fewer than 50 employees have limited resources and personnel, making it difficult to fully establish safety and health management systems for industrial accident prevention. However, when a serious accident occurs, the damage is severe enough to threaten not only human lives but also the survival of the company. Therefore, recognizing that prevention of serious accidents is paramount, let us demonstrate our commitment to preventing serious accidents by participating in the Industrial Safety Diagnosis!