South Korea plans to strip licences from construction firms over fatalities

The measure is part of a new industrial safety regulation announced by the country’s labour ministry that would also fine companies up to 5% of operating profit if more than three of their workers die from workplace accidents in a year.

President Lee Jae Myung, who took office in June, has emphasised the importance of improving South Korea’s job safety

He has tasked the labour minister with introducing tough new rules to punish employers for repeated fatal accidents.

Last year, 589 people died in job-related accidents in South Korea. Nearly half of those were in construction.

“Industrial accidents cause significant losses to the national economy, not only hurting the lives of people but also damaging the productivity of companies,” Labour Minister Kim Young-hoon told a briefing.

The minister said it was a basic responsibility of the government to ensure people did not die at their place of work.

The changes will require parliament to amend the law governing industrial safety, Kim said.

Last month, parliament, which is controlled by Lee’s liberal Democratic Party, passed a revision to the country’s labour union act to strengthen the rights of contract workers so they can deal directly with the original contractor.

Kim cited the hiring of subcontractors by large companies, which have been accused of trying to evade legal responsibility by outsourcing dangerous work, as one of the reasons so many industrial accidents persist.