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SOUTH Korean labour ministry on Wednesday launched a task force to discuss ways to improve the workplace safety law punishing employers for serious industrial accidents.
The task launch was affected amid concern from businesses that the law was too harsh and questioned its effectiveness.
The task force comprised eight experts in law, economy and industrial safety, and aimed at improving the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which took effect last January, and would be active until June, the ministry said.
Under the law, business owners or CEOs of companies with 50 or more employees are subject to at least one year in prison or up to 1 billion won (804,000 dollars) in fines in the event of deadly on-duty disasters caused by lax workplace safety measures.
For companies with 50 or fewer employees which account for about 80 per cent of all serious accidents the government gave a grace period until Jan. 27, 2024.
Companies with less than five employees are not subject to the law.
The number of on-duty disasters has not fallen since the law took effect, raising questions about its effectiveness. Business owners have argued the law does not clearly define the criteria of punishment.
Earlier, the labour ministry announced it would shift the focus of workplace safety policy from punishment to self-regulation and prevention.
The ministry also said it would give more weight to businesses’ self-regulated prevention systems, under which labour and management cooperated in discovering and improving risk factors based on the guidelines imposed by the state. (Yonhap/NAN)
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