Report calls for stronger worker accountability in preventing serious workplace accidents; 58.5% of industrial accidents linked to safety rule violations

The Korea Employers Federation headquarters [Herald DB]
The Korea Employers Federation headquarters [Herald DB]

The Korea Employers Federation released a report Wednesday titled "Ways to Strengthen Workers' Role in Preventing Serious Workplace Accidents," calling for urgent reform of laws and systems governing industrial safety.

A survey of 117 companies in manufacturing, construction and other industries found that workers' failure to follow safety rules was the primary cause of industrial accidents in 58.5% of cases reported over the past three years.

In addition, 61.5% of the surveyed companies said they do not operate a disciplinary system for safety rule violations. The most common reason was concern over worker backlash and labor-management friction, cited by 52.8% of respondents.

The federation said that despite companies' efforts to prevent industrial accidents, basic safety violations — such as failure to follow work procedures and refusal to wear protective equipment — continue to recur at worksites.

It added that two attitudes are blocking progress on reducing serious workplace accidents: a perception among workers that ignoring safety rules carries no real consequences, and a complacent belief that accidents will not happen. Policy and institutional improvements are urgently needed to address both, it said.

Tables showing the rate of worker safety rule non-compliance by industry and company size (top), and the safety rules most frequently violated by workers [Korea Employers Federation]
Tables showing the rate of worker safety rule non-compliance by industry and company size (top), and the safety rules most frequently violated by workers [Korea Employers Federation]

The federation also addressed Article 40 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, saying the current statutory language requiring workers to comply with safety measures does not make their core obligations intuitively clear. Spelling out workers' duties explicitly in law and emphasizing the importance of compliance would have a significantly positive effect on reducing industrial accidents, it said.

Article 40 of the act states that workers must observe the measures taken by employers under Articles 38 and 39, as specified by Ministry of Employment and Labor regulations.

The federation said that rewarding exemplary safety conduct to encourage voluntary safety activity, and imposing sanctions to deter deliberate or repeated violations, are legitimate management activities necessary for accident prevention. Because individual companies cannot realistically establish disciplinary standards for safety violators while managing conflicts with labor unions, the government should issue clear and objective guidelines on disciplinary criteria and procedures after gathering input from both labor and management, it said. The goal is to give workers both pride in following safety rules and a sense of vigilance, establishing a culture of voluntary safety compliance.

Tables showing reasons workers do not follow safety rules (top), and the status of disciplinary systems for safety rule violations [Korea Employers Federation]
Tables showing reasons workers do not follow safety rules (top), and the status of disciplinary systems for safety rule violations [Korea Employers Federation]

The federation also criticized current safety and health education requirements, saying they focus too heavily on standardized content and paperwork to prove course completion. To move beyond formalistic education and achieve its real purpose, voluntary safety activities carried out at worksites should count as qualifying safety and health education, it argued.

Im Woo-taek, head of the federation's safety and health division, said the pace of reduction in serious workplace accidents has stalled despite enormous corporate investment in safety and the government's push to toughen penalties. "The time has come to focus on analyzing and addressing the root causes of accidents," he said. "We need to build a system in which employers and workers each fulfill their respective roles in a balanced way, and establish the principle of shared labor-management responsibility for safety."


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