Presented at This Year's Autumn Conference of the Korean Society of Safety
Highlights Rise in Work-Related Illnesses and Changes in On-Site Risk Structure
Paek Jonggil, President of the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service, drew attention by presenting a project that links industrial accident compensation and prevention using industrial accident insurance data.
The Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service (President Paek Jonggil) announced on the 13th that President Paek delivered the opening address and a special lecture at the "2025 Autumn Conference of the Korean Society of Safety," which has been held in Jeju since the 12th. The event will continue until the 14th.
This academic conference was organized to bring together leading domestic safety experts to discuss safety technologies and policy responses to new risk factors such as artificial intelligence, the climate crisis, and changes in industrial structure.
In his congratulatory speech, President Paek emphasized, "Recently, work-related illnesses have increased significantly, raising the need to connect industrial accident prevention and compensation. The vast industrial accident insurance data held by the Service will become a key asset for accident prevention."
He also stressed, "The focus of safety management under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act should shift from 'zero accidents' to 'zero serious accidents.' In this case, near-miss and minor accidents will be revealed, providing important clues for preventing serious accidents and also helping to prevent the concealment of industrial accidents."
In the subsequent special lecture, President Paek analyzed industrial accident data and shared related issues under the theme "Characteristics of Work-Related Accidents as Seen Through Industrial Accident Claims."
Key statistics show that as of 2024, work-related accidents increased by 28.2% compared to 2018, but work-related illnesses surged by 182.3%, and commuting accidents by 130.6%. By type of illness, musculoskeletal disorders accounted for 59.8%, noise-induced hearing loss 28.3%, cerebro-cardiovascular diseases 3.2%, respiratory diseases 2.7%, occupational cancers 2.2%, and mental illnesses 2.2%. While musculoskeletal disorders and noise-induced hearing loss make up the majority, President Paek explained that occupational cancers caused by new substances and mental illnesses due to work-related stress have also been rapidly increasing in recent years.
With industrial accident insurance now covering platform workers such as parcel delivery and quick service providers, their industrial accident claims increased significantly from 815 cases in 2018 to 14,039 cases in 2024. Industrial accidents among vulnerable groups such as elderly and foreign workers have also continued to rise, highlighting the need for countermeasures.
President Paek stated, "Due to the surge in claims for work-related illnesses, the average industrial accident processing period, which currently takes 228 days, will be drastically reduced to 120 days by 2027 through streamlining work procedures and expanding human and material infrastructure."
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