In Korea, the government has been making efforts to prevent industrial accidents and promote the safety and health of workers through the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the recently legislated Serious Accidents Punishment Act, but these regula...
In Korea, the government has been making efforts to prevent industrial accidents and promote the safety and health of workers through the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the recently legislated Serious Accidents Punishment Act, but these regulations have not achieved their intended legislative purpose.
Shortcomings of the Occupational safety and health supervision system, the lack of reasonable regulations for occupational safety and health measures, and the lack of institutional foundations that enable workers to effectively exercise their legal rights are pointed out as problems with the current system.
Looking at the case of the United States, we can see that, unlike Korea, it has established institutional and legal frameworks for the prevention of industrial accidents. First, under the leadership of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, effective supervision and occupational safety and health policies are being implemented. Second, General Duty Clauses are in place to resolve regulatory gaps, and in conjunction with these clauses, guidelines and voluntary codes developed through employer participation are utilized to achieve effective self-regulation. Third, the risk-controlling employer liability doctrine, which has been established by case law, clarifies the scope of the contractor's liability. Finally, the right to stop work system is well established, enabling workers to exercise their right to stop work in necessary situations without incurring civil or criminal liability. Workers are actively exercising their right to know. Furthermore, by introducing relaxed criteria for proving a substantial causal relationship between work and illness, workers can more smoothly exercise their right to claim compensation for industrial accidents.
Korea should consider improving its current system by referring to the U.S. system and examples. First of all, a dedicated organization in charge of occupational safety and health should be established to create an efficient and consistent system that covers the policy design stage to the enforcement stage.
Additionally, to rationalize employers' obligations regarding occupational safety and health measures, General Duty Clauses should be established in the Occupational Safety and Health Act and Serious Accidents Punishment Act. In this process, it is necessary to utilize soft codes based on self-regulation or public-private cooperation. Regarding the scope of liability of contractors, it is necessary to clarify the content and scope of the contractor's industrial accident prevention liability based on the consistent criteria. Furthermore, institutional mechanisms should be established to exempt or mitigate liability for contractors who have made reasonable efforts within the scope that could be reasonably anticipated to prevent industrial accidents, or when causality is not established.
Meanwhile, it is also necessary to establish effective measures to protect workers' rights. First, regarding the right to stop work, a system should be established that allows workers to exercise their right to stop work without incurring civil or criminal liability. Additionally, new regulations should be introduced to penalize employers who impose disadvantage without just cause on workers who exercise their right to stop work. Additionally, laws and regulations should be revised to ensure that workers have access to information about hazardous substances, and ongoing efforts should be made to strengthen workers' right to know through publicity and quality education. Finally, to resolve difficulties encountered in exercising the right to claim workers' compensation insurance, the criteria for determining causation should be relaxed, and institutional measures should be adopted to prevent administrative agencies and employers from refusing to submit relevant documents.