Since January 27, all workplaces with more than five employees are subject to the law as the scope of the workplace safety regulations has been expanded to workplaces with less than 50 employees.

However, the debates over the pros and cons continue to be heated, with concerns voiced by management and the ruling party, while labor and opposition parties welcome the move.

The workplace safety law, which came into effect on January 27, 2022, mandates imprisonment for more than one year or fines of up to 1 billion won for failing to take care of safety and health obligations in the event of a major workplace accident.

Initially, when the law was enacted, workplaces with less than 50 full-time workers and less than 5 billion won in construction costs were delayed for two years, but now all workplaces with more than 5 full-time workers are covered by the law.

The employer is not immediately penalized in the event of a serious accident, but if the competent Employment and Labor Administration finds that the employer or manager has neglected to establish and manage the safety and health management system of the workplace after the investigation, penalties will be imposed.

This law applies to all industries, not only manufacturing and construction businesses, but also service and office workplaces such as restaurants and bakeries.

Affected workplaces must establish a safety and health management system, which includes checking safety and health goals and improvement procedures every six months.

At the time of the enactment of the law, there was a confusion regarding the obligation to secure safety and health, leading to a postponement of the application period to January this year for small and medium-sized companies under a certain size; these companies have demanded more time to expand government support and apply the law to establish a safety management system.

In September of last year, the ruling party proposed an amendment to suspend the application of companies with less than 50 employees for an additional two years, but this proposal did not pass the National Assembly.

As the expansion approached in January this year, public opinion for and against whether to extend the grace period further intensified, but ultimately, it was eventually implemented.

With the enactment of this law, the majority of workplaces are required to establish a safety and health management system.

Factors that could endanger workers' health should be improved, and they should be checked at least once every six months.

Generally, workplaces with fewer than 50 employees are not required to appoint a safety manager or health manager, but workplaces with 20 or more and less than 50 employees specified in the law, such as manufacturing, must appoint at least one safety and health manager.

Prior to the enforcement of the law, there was a fierce debate between the ruling and opposition parties over whether such preparations could be completed in small businesses.

Those who advocated for immediate implementation argued that they could no longer suspend the application of the law to small businesses where much of the accidents occur; conversely, those who insisted on the suspension said that small businesses should postpone further expansion because it takes time to prepare for it.

However, although law enforcement eventually expanded, efforts from the government, small and medium-sized businesses, and workers are all needed to prevent the side effects of law enforcement and maximize the purpose of the legislation to ultimately reduce accidents and protect the lives of workers.

The government will make every effort to prepare business owners to prevent confusion caused by ignorance in small businesses.

As the law has been passed, employers and management managers should thoroughly understand the detailed regulations set by the law in advance, educate a small number of workers in the workplace to pay attention to safety accidents, and prioritize the safety and health of regular workers.

Punishing employers after accidents is not everything for safety, so workers themselves need to keep their safety obligations and respond more actively to risks in the workplace to protect themselves from danger.

Derek Hwang

Grade 11

Seoul Scholars International