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).286)
(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.


III.        Employer’s Duties

1. Report industrial accidents
In cases where a worker dies due to an occupational accident, or is injured or contracts an illness requiring medical treatment for three days or more, the employer shall submit to the Minister of Employment & Labor an accident investigation form regarding the occupational accident within one month from the occurrence date of the occupational accident. Provided, in cases where a “serious accident” occurs, the employer shall report it without delay(Article 57).

2. Measures to prevent harm & hazards
(1)        Notice of substance of acts and subordinate statutes
The business owner shall inform workers of the major aspects of orders enacted under this Act by posting them at each workplace(Article 34).
(2)        Attachment of safety signs
The business owner shall install or attach safety and health signs to warn employees of dangerous facilities and places in the workplace and provide emergency drills to promote safety awareness(Article 37).
(3)        Safety and health measures
The business owner shall take measures necessary to prevent the following hazards in operating the business: ① hazards caused by machines, tools or other equipment;
② hazards caused by explosive, combustible or inflammable substances; ③ hazards
caused by electricity, heat or other forms of energy; ④ Hazards caused by improper work methods in excavating, quarrying, loading and unloading, timbering, transporting, operating, dismantling, handling of heavy objects, etc.; and ⑤ hazards in places where
workers might easily trip and fall, sand, structures, etc.,(Article 38).
The business owner shall take measures necessary to prevent the following from causing health problems commonly encountered in the course of business operations: gas, dust, high temperatures, low temperatures, remnants, precision work, poor ventilation or lighting, computer terminals, radiation, simple repetitive actions, etc(Article 39).
(4)        Suspension of operation due to a serious accident or possible risk
If there is imminent danger of an industrial accident, or if a serious accident has occurred, the business owner shall take necessary measures for safety and health, such as immediately suspending operations, evacuating workers from the workplace, etc., until work can be resumed after meeting safety requirements(Article 51).
If an industrial accident seems impending, any worker can suspend work and evacuate. In this case, he/she shall report it without delay to the immediate superior officer, who shall take appropriate measures to rectify the situation(Article 52).
(5)        Measures in case of a serious accident
1) Employer’s measures
The employer shall immediately take necessary measures concerning safety and health, such as stopping work immediately and evacuating workers from the workplace when a serious accident occurs. In addition, the employer shall report to the Minister of Employment and Labor without delay if he finds out that a serious disaster has occurred(Article 54).
2) Measures by the Minister of Employment and Labor
The Minister of Employment and Labor shall, when a serious accident occurs and if it is determined that there is an immediate danger of recurrence, ① if the work during which the serious accident occurred is continuing, or ② if similar work to the work during which the serious accident occurred is continuing, give an order to cease the work. In addition, the Minister of Employment and Labor shall stop the work in case of unavoidable circumstances such as the occurrence of a serious accident due to the collapse of earth and sand, fire, explosion, leakage of harmful or dangerous materials, and the spread of industrial accidents around the place where such serious accident occurred.
The Minister of Employment and Labor shall lift the suspension of work after deliberation by a review committee composed of experts on the work environment, if the employer requests cancellation of the above cases(Article 55).
(6)        Other measures to prevent harm and hazards

Article 80 (Protective Measures, etc. for Harmful or
Dangerous Machines, Instruments, etc.)        Machines and instruments requiring harmful or hazardous work or operated by power, shall not be transferred, leased, installed or used, or displayed for the purpose of transfer or lease, without taking protective measures for the prevention of harm and hazards.
Article 83 (Safety Certification)        To assess the safety of harmful or dangerous machines, instruments, equipment, protective devices and personal protective equipment, the Minister of Employment & Labor may determine and announce safety certification criteria concerning safety performance, the manufacturer's technological capacity, production systems, etc.
Article 93 (Safety Inspection)        An employer who uses harmful or dangerous machines and equipment shall receive a safety inspection on whether the performance of the harmful or dangerous machines, etc. meet safety standards.
Article 118 (Permission to Manufacture, etc.)        A person who intends to manufacture or use “substances subject to permission”shall obtain, in advance, permission from the Minister of Employment & Labor. This provision shall also apply if the person intends to make a change to anything that has previously been permitted.
Article 119 (Asbestos Investigation)
Article 122 (Asbestos Disposal or Removal by Asbestos Disposal or Removal Service Provider)        If structures or facilities are to be demolished or dismantled, the owner or lessee, etc., of the structures or facilities shall conduct a "general asbestos investigation" and record and keep the results thereof.
The owner, etc., of structures or facilities subject to an institutional asbestos investigation shall have an “asbestos disposal or removal service provider”dispose of or remove the asbestos.
Article 114 (Preparation, Keeping, etc. of Material Safety Data Sheets)        A person who transfers or supplies a chemical and/or chemical- containing preparations meeting the classification standards pursuant to "target chemicals" shall make and provide a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) to the person to whom they are transferred or supplied.
Article 36 (Risk Assessment)        An employer shall identify hazards and determine the potential for harm caused by structures, machines, instruments, equipment, raw materials, gas, vapor, dust, etc., work behavior or work, determine the level of risk, and take measures under this Act and any order issued under this Act according to the findings, and if necessary to prevent risks or health
problems for workers, take additional measures as required.

3. Safety and health measures for contractor businesses
(1)        Safety measures
The business owner of a contractor business shall institute safety measures to prevent industrial accidents which can occur when those employed by the business owner and the contractor work simultaneously at the same place(Article 63).
(2)        Prohibition of contract for harmful and dangerous work
Sectors of work recognized as harmful or dangerous to safety and health shall not apply under a separate contract without the approval of the Minister of Employment & Labor(Article 58).
(3)        Setting aside of funds for safety management
Upon entering into a subcontract or independently executing construction, shipbuilding or repair work, or other projects, funds for industrial safety and health management shall be set aside for activities to prevent occupational accidents when planning subcontract or project costs(Article 72).

4. Safety & health education (Chapter 3 of the Act)
In order to prevent possible safety-related accidents while working, the employer shall provide education for new workers, regular education for existing workers, education for workers changing jobs within the company, and special education as necessary.
(1)        Regular education
The employer shall periodically conduct employee education on safety and health issues(one hour or longer each month for office/sales workers, two hours or longer per month for production workers, and 16 hours per year for supervisors).
(2)        New workers’ education
When hiring workers, the employer shall provide safety and health education regarding their respective jobs for 8 hours or longer(one hour for daily workers).

(3)        Education when changing jobs within the company
When changing the contents of their jobs, the employer shall provide safety and health education regarding their changed jobs for 2 hours or longer(one hour for daily workers).
(4)        Special education
The employer shall provide safety and health education for 16 hours or longer to workers working in harmful and/or hazardous workplaces(two hours for daily workers).

5. Management of worker health
(1)        Evaluating the working environment
An employer of a business dealing with dangerous or harmful chemical substances or producing a high level of noise shall evaluate the working environment within 20 days from the date when a new workplace or work process is added or when there is any change in the existing workplace or work processes. An additional evaluation shall be made every 3 months for 1 year. The evaluation results shall be reported to the local labor office within 30 days from the completion date of the evaluation(Article 129).
(2)        Health examinations
The business owner shall periodically conduct health examinations of the workers. Health examinations must also be given upon the hiring of new workers(Article 125).
1) Employees who are required to take a special medical checkup(as they are engaged in work dealing with harmful substances or materials) shall have a medical checkup before they are assigned to the work. In addition, medical checkups shall be conducted for them whenever necessary.
2) All employers shall ensure that a general medical checkup is conducted at least once every two years for employees engaged in office work and at least once every year for other employees.
3) When an employer receives the results of a special medical checkup from the medical service provider, he/she should take any measures necessary to protect the employee’s health and then report to the jurisdictional local labor office.
(3)        Prohibition or restriction of work for sick persons
For persons diagnosed with infectious disease or mental illness, or any other condition that can be aggravated by work, the business owner shall prohibit or restrict work according to the medical diagnosis. However, upon recovery, the business owner shall, without delay, permit the employee to resume their original work(Article 138).
(4)        Extending working hours prohibited
The business owner shall not have an employee who is engaged in harmful or dangerous work working more than six hours per day or thirty-four hours per week(Article 139).
(5)        Restriction of employment by qualification
The business owner shall not allow any persons other than those who have the qualifications, license, experience, and/or required skills, to perform harmful or dangerous work(Article 140).
(6)        Documenting & keeping records
Documented records concerning appointment of safety and health personnel and the examinations on harmfulness and toxicity of new substances shall be kept for 3 years(internal inspection records shall be kept for 2 years). Records on working environment evaluations and employee medical examinations shall be kept for 5 years(Article 164).
(7)        Enhanced penalties for employers for occupational accidents
1) Employers, contractees, and contractors who fail to comply with their safety or health care obligations and cause the death of any worker shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than seven years, or a fine not exceeding 100 million won. The offense is aggravated up to one-half of the sentence if the identical offense is repeated within 5 years(Article 167).
2) In case a worker dies due to a representative’s or other worker’s violation of safety or health care obligations, not only shall such offender be punished accordingly, but the corporation or contractor shall also be punished by a fine of up to 1 billion won(Joint penalty provision: Article 128).
3) If the court convicts a person for the death of a worker due to a violation of health and safety measures, he or she may have a 200-hour study-attendance order necessary to prevent industrial accidents in addition to the punishment(Article 174).