The amendments to the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act were promulgated on February 19, 2026. These amendments are a follow-up legislation of the Comprehensive Plan for Work Safety, which was jointly announced by relevant ministries (Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Financial Services Commission) on September 15, 2025. The amendments set forth matters regarding (i) the introduction of the safety and health information disclosure system, (ii) the insertion of sanction provisions on risk assessment and participation of employee representatives, (iii) the guarantee of workers’ (or their representatives’) participation during industrial accident investigations, (iv) the expansion of the scope of industrial accident investigation, and (v) the honorary occupational safety inspectors’ participation in the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s inspections, etc.
|
1. |
Key Amendments to the Occupational Safety and Health Act |
|
Key Details |
||||||
|
1) (Newly established) Introduction of the safety and health disclosure system (Article 10-2, effective as of August 1, 2026) |
To require companies of a certain size[1] to disclose the status of major safety and health issues[2]
※ For violation of the safety and health disclosure obligation: Administrative fine not exceeding KRW 10 million |
|||||
|
(Enhanced and newly established) Insertion of sanction provisions on risk assessment and enhancement of procedures (Article 36, Article 175, effective as of June 1, 2026) |
To newly establish sanctions on the violation of the obligations to perform risk assessment and to guarantee workers’ participation (administrative fine not exceeding KRW 10 million) Failure to guarantee participation by workers or employee representatives, and failure to share key issues (administrative fine not exceeding KRW 5 million), failure to keep and maintain records (administrative fine not exceeding KRW 3 million)
|
|||||
|
||||||
|
3) (Enhanced) Expansion of the scope to investigate accidents and clarified rules on disclosing investigation reports (Article 56 and Article 56-2, enforced as of June 1, 2026) |
|
|||||
|
4) (Enhanced) Honorary occupational safety inspectors’ participation (Article 23, enforced as of August 1, 2026) |
|
|||||
|
2. |
Key Amendments to the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act |
|
Key Details |
|||||||
|
(Newly established) Participation in on-site investigations and employers’ obligation to provide documents (Article 81, Article 116, Article 117, effective as of July 1, 2026) |
|
||||||
The amended Occupational Safety and Health Act introduces a new safety and health information disclosure system and risk assessment system. As these changes will bring about significant systemic changes in how companies manage occupational safety and health matters, companies must closely review and prepare for their new obligations.
|
(1) |
Regarding the safety and health information disclosure system, a company’s safety and health management status will be publicly disclosed. This includes items such as its safety and health management system, safety and health activities, budget execution and performance, and industrial accident status. As a result, regulatory authorities and external stakeholders may raise questions about a company’s safety and health management even where the company has had no recent industrial accidents. Accordingly, companies should (i) confirm that their safety and health management systems are being properly operated and (ii) prepare in advance a disclosure plan covering their safety and health activities, budget, and performance. In particular, because a company’s safety and health management system is closely tied to the allocation of responsibility if an accident occurs, companies should sufficiently review key structural issues—such as how the “workplace unit” is defined (including whether a site qualifies as an independent workplace) and whether safety and health management officers are appropriately designated—to minimize the risk of future disputes. |
|
(2) |
Meanwhile, risk assessment is a core element of implementing safety and health securement obligations under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. If an administrative fine is imposed under the amended Occupational Safety and Health Act due to an insufficient risk assessment, this may be viewed as a failure to comply with the obligation to secure safety and health under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and may therefore operate unfavorably for the company. Companies should therefore review and, where necessary, refine their operational procedures (including those expressly required under the Occupational Safety and Health Act), strengthen education and training on relevant personnel, and supplement related internal regulations on risk assessment to align with the amendments. In addition, because the amended Occupational Safety and Health Act places emphasis on worker participation in identifying and reducing workplace risks, companies should determine an appropriate and practical level of worker involvement—such as requiring work participation at each stage of the risk assessment process. |
In addition, following the promulgation of the above amendments on February 19, 2026, another proposed amendment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed by the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee (Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee) on February 23, 2026. This proposal includes enhanced regulations such as (i) imposing a penalty surcharge (up to 5% of operating profits) on companies having frequent fatal accidents (i.e., three or more cases a year), (ii) enhancing and expanding workers’ and the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s authority to request work suspension, and (iii) establishing the standards for the revocation of construction business license (if three or more business suspension orders for three years). Such additional proposal could be passed by the plenary session of the National Assembly as early as March, so companies should closely monitor legislative developments.
As compliance with these recent amendments may significantly affect how a company’s compliance with safety and health statutes is assessed, companies should review their compliance status and on-site safety control practices in preparation for the upcoming effective dates. Finally, certain amendments—including the safety and health information disclosure system—are expected to be further specified in subordinate statutes. Companies should therefore continue monitoring subordinate legislation and incorporate those developments into their compliance planning.
