812 Fatalities in Accidents Last Year... Accident Death Rate Enters 0.3 Range for the First Time
Last year, the second year of the major accident reduction roadmap, the number of industrial accident fatalities decreased by more than 60 compared to the previous year. In particular, the decline in fatalities at workplaces with fewer than 50 employees was notable.
According to the "2023 Status of Accident Fatalities Based on Industrial Accident Compensation Statistics" announced by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 29th, the number of accident fatalities approved for survivor benefits last year was 812, a decrease of 62 from the previous year (874).
This statistic is calculated by aggregating the number of survivor benefit approvals over one year and is based on the time survivor benefits were approved, not the time the accident occurred. It is commonly used as a statistic to identify annual industrial accident fatalities.
The accident fatality rate per 10,000 workers, which indicates the number of industrial accident fatalities per 10,000 workers, reached 0.38 last year, entering the 0.3 range for the first time. A Ministry of Employment and Labor official evaluated, "Since 2014, the accident fatality rate had stagnated in the 0.4 to 0.5 range, but it has entered the 0.3 range for the first time."
By industry, the number of fatalities was highest in construction with 356 (43.8%), followed by manufacturing with 165 (20.3%), services with 140 (17.2%), and transportation, warehousing, and telecommunications with 111 (13.7%). However, fatalities decreased compared to the previous year in construction (-46), manufacturing (-19), and services (-10), while fatalities increased in transportation, warehousing, and telecommunications (+7).
By type of accident, falls were the most common with 286 cases (35.2%), followed by being caught in machinery with 88 (10.8%), traffic accidents outside the workplace with 86 (10.6%), collisions with 69 (8.5%), and being struck by objects with 68 (8.4%).
Previously, falls (-36), collisions (-23), and being caught in machinery (-2) ? which accounted for about half of accident fatalities and were called the "three major frequent types" ? decreased, while traffic accidents outside the workplace (+9) increased, entering the top three accident types for the first time.
By workplace size, workplaces with fewer than 50 employees saw a decrease (-70) compared to the previous year, whereas workplaces with 50 or more employees saw an increase (+8).
Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jeong-sik stated, "Achieving an accident fatality rate in the 0.3 range for the first time is a result of efforts to internalize safety culture and awareness through the spread of risk assessments, active financial and technical support, and the Safety Culture Practice Promotion Team, along with raising awareness through major accident sirens. This year, we will concentrate policy capabilities on conducting comprehensive inspections and spreading self-regulatory prevention systems to bring about substantial changes on the ground, while also addressing vulnerable groups to industrial accidents such as increasing labor providers and foreign workers."
Earlier, in November 2022, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the "Major Accident Reduction Roadmap," which shifts the policy direction from a focus on post-accident punishment to a prevention-oriented approach through a "self-regulatory prevention system" to reduce industrial accidents.
The government plans to lower the fatal accident rate, which ranks 34th out of 38 OECD countries at 0.43, to the OECD average of 0.29 by 2026 through this initiative.
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