Ethics and safety management promoted as top institutional priorities

ISO certifications and strengthened internal controls among factors cited

An exterior view of the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service headquarters in Jung-gu, Ulsan [Yonhap]
An exterior view of the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service headquarters in Jung-gu, Ulsan [Yonhap]

The Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service has won the 2026 Ethics Management Award in recognition of its efforts to build an ethics governance framework and fulfill its social responsibilities.

The agency received the award Friday at the Korean Academic Society of Business Ethics' spring academic conference at Sogang University. Now in its 40th year, the Ethics Management Award is presented to institutions that have demonstrated outstanding performance in building ethics management systems, practicing social responsibility, fostering CEO ethical leadership and spreading an ethics culture within their organizations.

The agency was recognized for adopting ethics management as a core business strategy and establishing an implementation framework aligned with its mid- to long-term management goals. Judges particularly noted that Chairman Park Jong-gil had elevated ethics and safety management to the institution's top operational priority and created a dedicated Safety and Ethics Management Headquarters as the agency's primary organizational unit.

Also cited were the agency's proactive efforts to identify ethical risks that could arise in public-facing services — including industrial accident compensation and the assessment of employment and industrial accident insurance premiums — and its systematic approach to identifying, evaluating, controlling and monitoring those risks. The agency has obtained integrated certification under ISO 37001 (anti-bribery management systems) and ISO 37301 (compliance management systems), and has strengthened its internal control framework through an Internal Control Committee and an Ethics Management Committee.

The agency also runs tailored ethics and integrity education programs for staff at all levels, along with participatory ethics practice programs. It has developed AI ethics guidelines and checklists in response to the spread of generative AI, working to establish AI ethics standards in the public sector.

The agency has continued social contribution activities — including operating the Taebaek Public Late-Night Children's Hospital, providing medical support for migrant workers and running a scholarship project for children of workers injured on the job — as part of its efforts to build public trust and fulfill its social responsibilities.

"This award is the result of every employee practicing ethical management on the ground, with public trust as our foremost value," Chairman Park said. "We will continue to do our utmost to become a public institution that earns even greater trust from the public through fair and transparent operations."


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