Up to 5% Penalty for Companies with 3 or More Annual Industrial Accident Deaths

A revision to the Occupational Safety and Health Act that would allow fines of up to 5% of operating profit to be imposed on companies where three or more workers have died from industrial accidents over the past year passed the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 1st. The revision allows fines to be imposed when a serious industrial accident occurs due to an employer's violation of safety measures, and stipulates that the level of the fine be determined by reflecting the number of violations, the size of the company, and the number of deaths. It also included a provision allowing workers to demand a work stoppage when they feel an imminent danger, and requiring employers to take action unless there is a special reason not to. At the plenary session that day, a revision to the Emergency Medical Service Act for the reform of the emergency medical system and a revision to the National Basic Living Security Act, which would allow public officials to apply for benefits on behalf of households in a livelihood crisis, also passed. On the other hand, the revision to the Special Accounting Act for the Improvement of Agricultural and Fishing Villages Infrastructure was rejected.