Even a 90-Year-Old Hearing-Impaired Elder Receives Tens of Millions in Industrial Accident Compensation "System Improvement Needed"

Sharp Increase: Fivefold Rise in Approved Industrial Accidents for Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Since 2018

Mr. A, who retired from the shipbuilding industry in December 1995, applied for industrial accident compensation at the age of 83 in 2020 due to hearing loss about 25 years after retirement. Subsequently, the industrial accident was approved in 2022 when he was 85 years old.

The business community points out that if the hearing loss is severe enough to require industrial accident compensation, it is common sense to apply at the time of retirement, and applying decades after retirement is medically unreasonable.

Asia Economy DB

The Korea Employers Federation (KEF) announced these findings on the 16th in a report titled "Current Status and Implications of Industrial Accident Recognition for Noise-Induced Hearing Loss." According to the report, due to unresolved issues with the current industrial accident recognition criteria, there has been a sharp increase in applications and compensation for noise-induced hearing loss among elderly people aged 70 and above, decades after retirement.

Since 2018, the number of approved industrial accident cases for noise-induced hearing loss has increased about fivefold, and the proportion of elderly people aged 70 and above among these cases expanded from 30.5% in 2019 to a maximum of 52.7% in 2022. The amount of industrial accident insurance benefits paid has also rapidly increased, rising from approximately 49 billion KRW in 2018 to 248.2 billion KRW in 2024, an increase of about 200 billion KRW over six years.

The report forecasts, "If this growth rate continues, insurance benefit payments are expected to exceed 1 trillion KRW by 2034, ten years from now. Furthermore, with the large-scale retirement and industrial accident applications from the second baby boomer generation (9.54 million people) becoming full-fledged, the scale of compensation will increase even more steeply."

Based on the average annual growth rates of noise-induced hearing loss approvals (16.1%) and disability benefits (15.1%) over the past three years (2022?2024), it is estimated that by 2029, about 12,300 cases will be approved and 501.4 billion KRW in benefits will be paid. By 2034, the number of approved cases is expected to reach 22,938, and benefit payments will exceed 1 trillion KRW.

KEF pointed out problems with the current recognition criteria for noise-induced hearing loss industrial accidents in the report and argued that it is urgent to improve the criteria through amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act.

There is no age adjustment criterion to distinguish between age-related hearing loss, which is highly likely to occur naturally, and noise-induced hearing loss caused by work, resulting in repeated unreasonable compensation. Moreover, except in the early stages of noise-induced hearing loss, it is very difficult to distinguish it from age-related hearing loss, and the existing age adjustment criterion was deleted in 2020, making it easy for age-related hearing loss to be recognized as an industrial accident.

Since hearing loss is irreversible after onset, disability benefits are paid. However, the basis for the disability benefit claim period changed from the "date of cessation of noise exposure work" to the "date of diagnosis," effectively eliminating the statute of limitations for claims, leading to industrial accident compensation being made even decades after retirement.

KEF views this situation as inconsistent with international standards. Compared to major foreign countries that strictly apply age adjustment criteria (United States, Canada, Singapore) or industrial accident application validity periods (United States, France, United Kingdom), domestic standards appear excessively lenient.

Legislative amendments are also delayed. According to a research report by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, proposals to establish age adjustment criteria and limit the application period to "within 3 years after leaving noise exposure" in the Enforcement Decree of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act have already been presented but have not been pursued.

Lim Woo-taek, head of KEF's Safety and Health Division, emphasized, "Unless the deficiencies in the recognition criteria for noise-induced hearing loss are addressed, indiscriminate industrial accident applications and excessive compensation for elderly retirees will worsen. To operate the system in line with the purpose of industrial accident insurance and global standards, it is urgent to establish age adjustment criteria for noise-induced hearing loss and amend the Enforcement Decree of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act to apply the claim period for disability benefits based on the 'last date of noise exposure.'"