Demand for safety management professionals jumps after Serious Accidents Punishment Act takes effect; more than 31,000 people earned the certification last year, proving its value in the youth job market

Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon calls for stronger inspections of small workplaces to reduce industrial accidents at a meeting of industrial safety agency heads held at the Government Sejong Building in Sejong on June 16. [Newsis]
Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon calls for stronger inspections of small workplaces to reduce industrial accidents at a meeting of industrial safety agency heads held at the Government Sejong Building in Sejong on June 16. [Newsis]

The number of applicants for the national industrial safety engineer certification exam topped 200,000 last year for the first time, as the Serious Accidents Punishment Act has elevated the importance of workplace safety management.

Analysts say the credential has become one of the most sought-after certifications in the country, driven by growing demand for safety professionals — particularly in manufacturing and construction — and its recognized value in the job market.

According to the "2026 National Technical Qualifications Statistical Yearbook" released Monday by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea, 202,799 people registered for the written and practical industrial safety engineer exams last year. The certification drew the largest applicant pool among all engineer-level national technical qualifications for the third consecutive year, surpassing the information processing engineer exam to hold the top spot.

Interest in the industrial safety engineer exam surged after the Serious Accidents Punishment Act took effect in 2022. Registrants rose 30.3 percent from 93,439 in 2021 to 121,714 in 2022, then jumped 51.8 percent to 184,760 in 2023. The figure kept climbing — reaching 196,411 in 2024 and 202,799 last year — crossing the 200,000 threshold for the first time.

The rankings among engineer-level certification exams have also shifted sharply. As recently as 2021, the information processing engineer exam led the field with 140,170 applicants, while the industrial safety engineer exam ranked third behind the electrical engineer exam. The industrial safety exam climbed to second place in 2022 and has topped the rankings every year since 2023.

The number of people earning the certification has also grown rapidly. Annual recipients rose from 15,310 in 2021 to 31,247 last year, surpassing 31,000 for the first time. The increase was particularly sharp in 2023, when the figure jumped 82.6 percent from the previous year.

Research has also confirmed the certification's practical value in the labor market.

According to a Korea Employment Information Service study that quantified the labor market value of youth certifications using entropy-weighted analysis, the industrial safety engineer credential scored highest among manufacturing-sector engineer certifications with a value score of 0.7741. It outpaced the electrical engineer (0.6138), information processing engineer (0.5178) and general mechanical engineer (0.4881) certifications.

In non-manufacturing sectors, the industrial safety engineer ranked third with a score of 0.6188, behind the information processing engineer (0.8637) and electrical engineer (0.7112).

Industry observers say the surge in applicants reflects companies' active efforts to secure qualified safety management professionals after the Serious Accidents Punishment Act strengthened employers' obligations to ensure worker safety and health. Demand for personnel with safety management expertise has been consistently expanding, particularly in manufacturing and construction.


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