LABOR LAW GUIDE

Chapter 5 Working Environment

Section 1: Industrial Safety and Health (1/2)

Ⅰ. Concept

On April 16, 2014, a ferry named Sewol, bound for Jeju island from Incheon, sank in the ocean near Jindo Island, and about 300 passengers lost their lives. This is known as the “Sewol ho Accident,” one of the worst tragedies in Korea, and one which could have been avoided if the employer had fulfilled his duty to observe safety regulations.
The current Occupational Safety & Health Act(hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) requires the employer to establish a management system for occupational safety and health, to prepare preventative measures for harmful and dangerous equipment, facilities, materials, working environment, etc., and at the same time to periodically provide workers the necessary safety and health education to prevent industrial accidents from happening. Also, in cases where an employer is found to have violated the Act, the employer is punished immediately so that activities to protect occupational safety and health and avoid accidents become habitual. Workers can also be punished with a fine for negligence when they violate the Act.
Occupational safety cannot be emphasized enough, as it protects personnel, property, and investment by preventing accidents. This Act, which stipulates the observance of occupational safety and health regulations, is very complicated, and enumerated with many technical articles, and so here I have attempted to define the management structures of the Act clearly and divide the employer’s duties according to their characteristics in order to make the Act more easily and clearly understood.
In particular, major changes to the Act, which was enforced from January 16, 2020, included: ① expanding coverage and expanding from workers to labor providers; ② introducing such shutdowns for serious disasters; and ③ strengthening penalties for accidents.

Ⅱ. The Scope of Application

1. Extended purpose and scope of application

(1) Purpose

The purpose of this Act is to maintain and promote the safety and health of those who provide work by preventing industrial accidents through establishment of standards on industrial safety and health and clarifying where the responsibility lies, and by creating a comfortable working environment(Article 1). As the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act recognizes the occupational accidents for persons in special types of employment, the Occupational Safety and Health Act extends the scope of industrial accidents from workers to those who provide work, which include not only workers but also special types of workers and delivery workers for safety and health measures(Articles 77 and 78 of the Act).

(2) Scope of application

This Act shall apply to all businesses: Provided that this Act may not apply wholly or partially to businesses taking into consideration the degree of harm and hazard, the type and scale of business, the location of business, etc. Generally, those excluded from application are ① public administration, education service, foreign agencies; ② businesses that use only office employees; and ③ any business that ordinarily employs fewer than 5 workers(Article 3).

2. Management structure

(1) Appointment duties

1) The general manager is in charge of safety and health management
The general manager is responsible for general control of occupational safety and health and supervises safety and health managers. Accordingly, the general manager shall be capable of managing the company’s business(e.g., plant manager)(Article 15). Companies that ordinarily employ 50 workers or more engaged in manufacturing etc., companies that ordinarily employ 100 workers or more engaged in wholesale and retail sales, etc., and companies that ordinarily employ 300 or more engaged in pure office administration, such as finance, etc., must appoint a general manager to be in charge of safety and health management.

2) Supervisor
An employer shall designate the head of a division within the management structure, who directly manages and supervises production work and employees involved therein or who takes charge of such a position, to carry out safety- and health-related duties such as safety and health inspections(Article 16).

3) Safety manager and health manager
An employer shall assign a safety(health) manager at the workplace to assist the employer or the general manager in technical matters concerning safety among the matters regarding safety and health, and to instruct and advise the supervisor on such matters.
The business owner of a manufacturing company or etc., ordinarily hiring 50 workers or more shall generally appoint a safety(health) manager, but for companies with fewer than 300 employees, the business owner may assign the safety(health) manager an additional safety management job or refer to a professional institution to perform the necessary safety management measures(Articles 17 and 18).

(2) Industrial safety and health committee

The business owner shall establish an industrial safety and health committee comprised of an equal number of worker and employer representatives for workplaces ordinarily hiring more than 100 employees, or which has between 50 to 100 employees engaged in dangerous work. The committee shall meet once per quarter and its decisions shall be posted, and shall be faithfully implemented(Article 24).

(3) Safety and health management regulations

In order to maintain safety and health in the workplace, an employer shall prepare safety and health management regulations, post and/or keep them in the workplace, and notify workers thereof. The employer and workers shall observe the safety and health management regulations(Article 25). These rules shall apply to workplaces ordinarily hiring 100 workers or more; provided that for service businesses like finance, etc. these rules shall apply to workplaces ordinarily hiring 300 workers or more.

For further questions, please
call (+82) 2-539-0098 or email bongsoo@k-labor.com

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