Suggestion of an Improved Evaluation Method of Construction Companies’ Industrial Accident Prevention Activities in South Korea

Abstract

Workers in the construction industry are constantly exposed to dangers during work that can lead to death or disability. Despite recent advances in construction technology, the presence of these risks for workers has become an unresolved social problem. In particular, most companies often recognize that it is necessary to mitigate against risks posed to worker only after an accident has occurred. Recently, there has been an increasing demand for the development of new safety technologies and policy proposals to ensure the safety of workers during construction or work. However, the right solution is not coping after an accident but preventing it, and this must be accompanied by voluntary efforts by the company. To work toward such solutions, Korea is implementing an evaluation of construction companies’ industrial accident prevention activities without legal regulations or coercion to encourage voluntary accident prevention activities by companies. The purpose of this study is to propose an effective improvement direction for the system implemented by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency. First, by analyzing the details of the system and the data of the evaluation results, the system’s effectiveness and rationality are reviewed, and steps for improvement are determined. Next, an evaluation model is proposed considering the size of the company to be evaluated and the level of safety and health, and its validity is verified through a survey of construction workers. Finally, a plan to induce the voluntary participation of construction companies in this system and the role of the supervisory authority are presented. This study is expected to serve as an important example of an effective safety policy model by encouraging companies’ voluntary efforts to prevent accidents in the construction industry and raise the level of potential safety and health awareness.

An Institutional System Proposal for Advanced Occupational Safety and Labor Standards in the Turkish Construction Industry

“…Another design component is a scorecard application tracking the labor standards practices and OHS performances of construction companies on several criteria such as work hours, employee services, job security, OHS, and vocational education. This design component shares a similar perspective with the work of Kang et al [ 111 ] which offers a plan to motivate construction companies in South Korea for accident prevention activities. The scorecard application corresponds to the need for a better system to keep track of incidents and accidents in the OHS domain, as recommended by Human Resources Development Convention no.…”

“…The application of the system design methods such as root cause analysis, QFD, and use case development is proved to be valuable and practical in political–institutional design. The system proposal could be applied to other countries that follow the low-road strategy such as South Korea, the UK, the USA, Australia, and Spain [ 4 ] where achieving construction safety and reducing worker fatal injury rates are still challenging due to systemic failures [ 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 ]. The proposed system for Turkish construction provides an avenue for future research for the examination of the degree of similarity with the construction sectors of other low-road-taking countries and an assessment of the adaptability of the proposed system to other country contexts, which is beyond the scope of this study.…”

Types and Characteristics of Fatal Accidents Caused by Multiple Processes in a Workplace: Based on Actual Cases in South Korea

“…This hazard is due to the use of improper temporary structures as well as the unsafe behavior of workers [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Therefore, to prevent industrial accidents in the construction industry, the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA), an organization under the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), is implementing policies such as “Evaluation of Construction Company Industrial Accident Prevention Activities”, “Hazard and Risk Prevention Plan Review”, and “KOSHA-Management System” [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. This is a policy to reduce fatal accidents in the construction industry.…”

A Fuzzy Risk Assessment Model for Small Scale Construction Work

“…Consequently, work tasks are not assigned according to worker skill. Task assignment should be carried out by experts who are well-trained in OSH [15], in order to reduce occupational accidents [15][16][17]. To reduce accident rates, the appropriate safety barriers for each type of accident should be identified [18] and shared with the on-site safety manager.…”