The Ministry of Employment and Labor made an important announcement regarding the release of a casebook titled “Serious Accident White Paper.” (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – On Tuesday, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) made an important announcement regarding the release of a casebook titled “Serious Accident White Paper.” This publication is a compilation of 10 pivotal cases of serious accidents that have taken place thus far, designed to serve as a valuable reference for similar companies.
The cases detailed in the white paper, subtitled “2023 Risks Are Not Over Yet,” all involved violations of the Fatal Accident Punishment Act or the Occupational Safety and Health Act. One poignant example is the tragic industrial incident that occurred in October last year when a worker in his 20s suffered a horrifying accident at an SPC-affiliated factory.
On the morning of October 15, 2022, as the sun began to rise, Mr. Lee Ga-hyung (a pseudonym) had his right arm ensnared by a rotating blade, ultimately becoming trapped in a sauce stirring machine.
This incident at the Pyeongtaek SPL bakery, an SPC affiliate, was thoroughly reconstructed in the white paper. A team of professional writers collaborated on this narrative, altering certain details such as the time, location, and the names of the victims to ensure privacy.
The white paper’s analysis extends beyond the accident’s root cause, delving into the broader context in which it occurred, including the company’s work environment, organizational culture, and safety and health management system.
For the sauce stirrer accident, which led to a nationwide boycott of SPC, the white paper scrutinizes why a prominent company in the baking industry persisted in exposing workers to risk despite having identified the hazards through repeated risk assessments.
This incident underscored the importance of managing “interlocks,” safety devices designed to halt machinery and equipment when risky behavior is detected. The paper also highlights the main updates in the risk assessment guidelines made in May.
Construction site tragedies, which constitute a significant proportion of major disasters, were also meticulously reconstructed. “Sentence No. 1,” a tragic fall at a nursing home expansion project in the city of Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, symbolized the dire state of small-scale construction sites lacking essential safety measures such as fall protection nets and safety bars.
Drawing lessons from this event, the white paper analyzes why the victim was working without a safety harness and why hazardous “acrobatic construction” practices persist unchecked.
Additionally, it investigates a quarry collapse and a residential apartment building collapse, drawing parallels to similar cases at home and abroad and offering expert recommendations for accident prevention. The document provides an overview of the 611 fatal accidents that transpired the previous year.
The MOEL aims to convert the data from the KakaoTalk open chat room “Serious Accident Siren,” which was established to provide real-time updates on industrial accidents, into a booklet. Government officials are also advocating for a legal revision that would make the accident investigation findings of labor inspectors public.
The white paper is accessible on the MOEL website and is available as a free e-book at major bookstores in Korea, including Kyobo Bookstore, Yes24, and Aladdin. It will also be distributed as a printed booklet in general bookstores later this month.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
