Ministry of Employment and Labor Strengthens 'Safe Workplace' Initiative with Staff Expansion and Task Force Formation [Government in]

Ministry of Employment and Labor Launches "Safe Workplace Project" in Full Swing
Additional Staff to Be Assigned in August Through Supplementary Appointments
Task Force Formed Centered on Experts
Director of Industrial Accident Prevention and Supervision Policy Dispatched to Presidential Office

Amid growing calls for the creation of safer workplaces, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, which is the main government body responsible, is focusing its resources on field inspections and developing countermeasures. The ministry is increasing staff in related departments and forming a task force (TF) directly under the minister, composed mainly of employees with practical expertise. Recently, a director-level official from the ministry who was in charge of industrial accident affairs was dispatched to the presidential office.

Minister of Employment and Labor Younghoon Kim making his first on-site visit since taking office on the 22nd, conducting a surprise inspection at a construction site in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province. Ministry of Employment and Labor

The Industrial Safety and Health Headquarters, which oversees all industrial accident matters including serious accidents at the ministry, has recently been busy implementing the "Safe Workplace Project." The Safe Workplace Project assigns dedicated inspectors to 26,000 high-risk workplaces and construction sites nationwide, conducting surprise inspections to ensure compliance with 12 key safety rules, not only for heat waves but also for falls, entrapments, collisions, and other hazards.

The project involves 900 personnel, including industrial safety inspectors and staff from the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency. This includes around 600 existing inspectors and an additional 300 emergency staff, enabling thorough nationwide supervision. A ministry official said, "After the regular personnel reshuffle in January, there will be supplementary appointments in August, and transfers will occur then," adding, "Since we need to focus on the nationwide project, we plan to assign more staff to local offices."

To carry out the project, the Industrial Safety and Health Headquarters has established the "Safe Workplace Project Task Force," a TF directly under the minister. The task force includes five headquarters staff members with a high level of understanding of related work, either appointed or seconded from other departments within the ministry. Another ministry official explained, "All of them have focused mainly on supervision tasks such as serious accidents and labor-management relations," and added, "They are the most experienced staff who are familiar with fieldwork."

The ministry's policy is to focus all efforts on the project, as there are still many developing-country-type industrial accidents and the recent heat wave has increased the number of heat-related illnesses. At his inauguration ceremony the previous day, Minister Kim Younghoon stated, "Through the Safe Workplace Project, we will mobilize all available resources and closely manage labor sites." He also said, "We will concentrate all administrative power on eradicating industrial accidents so that workers can feel real change in the field."

President Lee Jaemyung has also reiterated his commitment to eliminating industrial accidents. At a cabinet meeting on the 22nd, President Lee said, "I will visit the site of an industrial accident fatality as soon as possible to assess the situation and devise countermeasures." Recently, the presidential office received the dispatch of Choi Taeho, Director of Industrial Accident Prevention and Supervision Policy at the Industrial Safety and Health Headquarters. Director Choi is now serving as a senior administrative officer in the presidential office's labor secretary's office.

Meanwhile, in addition to this project, the Industrial Safety and Health Headquarters has also formed a consultative TF in response to the fatal accident last month at the Taean thermal power plant, where the late Kim Chunghyun, a non-regular worker, died after being caught in machinery. Last month, the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that they had formed a countermeasure committee and a consultative body for related accidents, set agendas and operational methods, and would discuss measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.