MOEL Announces Occupational Safety and Health Amendments

by Brittany Tofinchio Palmer and Marina Stinely

---

The South Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor (“MOEL”) made a preliminary announcement to amend the Enforcement Regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Rules on Occupational Safety and Health Standards. The purpose of these amendments will be to prevent industrial accidents in the workplace. The amendments to the Occupational Safety and Health Act will include:

• Adding to the list of places at risk for industrial accidents;
• Prohibiting employers from arbitrarily changing the name of a chemical;
• Requiring the use of generic chemical names to be cross-checked by the Ministry of Environment; and
• Requiring chemical brand names and CAS numbers to be publicly announced after the expiration of the information protection period.

 
The amendments to the Rules on Occupational Safety and Health Standards will include:
 

• Obligating employers to provide and enforce safety helmet requirements;
• Enhancing safety procedures during work in confined spaces;
• Requiring employers to assign a fire watcher;
• Increasing control of highly hazardous substances to reduce occupational diseases; and
• Lowering the wind-speed threshold for tower crane operation.

 
All of these amendments were in the pre-announcement period, which ran from August 31, 2016 to October 10, 2016. The government hopes that these amendments will prevent industrial accidents and increase occupational safety and health throughout the country.