South Korea's labor minister urges tougher action on industrial accidents
Employers that keep cutting safety spending even after a worker dies will be held heavily responsible, Kim warned.
South Korea's Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon urged officials on Saturday to take a more active role in preventing workplace accidents and protecting workers, the national news agency Yonhap reported.
Kim led an emergency teleconference with senior labor officials from across the country.
He said safety at worksites is too urgent to delay and that companies should carry a heavy share of responsibility when serious accidents occur.
Kim told officials to give top priority to any business where the same type of serious accident keeps happening, and to keep those companies under closer watch.
He also called for strict penalties against employers who reduce safety spending to protect their profits.
Kim warned that business owners who still put cost savings ahead of safety, even after a worker has died, will be held heavily responsible, he added.
Kim also pledged to work closely with the ministry's regional offices.
Under the new Labor Inspector Act, which takes effect Dec. 8, some of the ministry's inspection powers will be handed to local governments.
The Labor Ministry oversees labor standards and workplace safety rules in South Korea, and industrial accidents have long been a major public concern in the country.
The new law shifts part of the inspection workload to local authorities, which the ministry hopes will bring oversight closer to individual workplaces.
