Amendment to Industrial Safety and Health Regulations Passes Regulatory Review Committee
Ministry of Employment and Labor Announces Swift Follow-up Procedures
The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on July 11 that the amendment to the "Regulations on Standards for Industrial Safety and Health," which includes provisions such as "providing at least a 20-minute break every two hours (when the perceived temperature is 33 degrees Celsius or higher)," has passed regulatory review at the 631st meeting of the Regulatory Reform Committee held at the Government Complex Seoul.
The Regulatory Reform Committee stated that the Ministry of Employment and Labor had faithfully reflected the recommendations made during previous reviews, and, given the urgent need to protect workers’ lives and health due to the spread of heat waves this summer that have exceeded initial expectations, agreed to the original draft of the amendment, which includes periodic breaks when the perceived temperature is 33 degrees Celsius or higher.
The committee also urged the ministry to thoroughly establish and implement plans to provide policy support and publicity, focusing on small businesses that may have difficulty complying with the regulations. The committee further requested that a fact-finding survey be conducted on the enforcement of the regulations and the response at worksites after implementation.
The ministry plans to quickly complete subsequent procedures such as legal review of the amendment and to announce and enforce the revised Regulations on Standards for Industrial Safety and Health next week. To ensure the regulations are firmly established in the field, the ministry will actively promote the "five basic rules for heatwave safety" that must be observed at worksites, and will conduct unannounced inspections to check compliance with these five rules, focusing on 60,000 high-risk worksites for heatwaves.
In addition, the ministry will use 20 billion won from the main budget and an additional 15 billion won from the supplementary budget to distribute portable air conditioners and other equipment in high demand at small businesses by the end of this month. The ministry also plans to closely monitor field conditions during implementation and actively improve any areas that require supplementation.
Kwon Changjun, Vice Minister of Employment and Labor, stated, "While heat waves are unavoidable, heat-related illnesses are preventable risks if both labor and management stay vigilant and do their best at worksites." He added, "Since providing at least a 20-minute break every two hours during heatwave work is a legal obligation, we will mobilize all administrative resources to ensure thorough compliance."
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea issued a statement on the same day, urging, "The government must not turn a blind eye to worker deaths during heat waves," and called for "active measures to guarantee workers’ right to life." Previously, on July 6, a worker in his 50s died while conducting surveying work below a manhole in Incheon, and on July 7, a Vietnamese worker died from heat-related illness at a construction site in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, highlighting fatalities caused by the heatwave.
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