From now on, employers at business sites that plan to work in confined spaces must provide oxygen and hazardous gas meters. The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) said on the 1st that it will promulgate and enforce an amendment to the Rules on Occupational Safety and Health Standards that includes these measures.
In addition to providing measuring devices, employers must measure oxygen and hazardous gas concentrations, record the results of assessing whether the air is suitable, and keep those records for three years. Recording and retention can also be in video form.
If an accident occurs in a confined space, the monitor must report it to 119 immediately. Employers are also obligated to verify whether workers are familiar with the risks of confined spaces and safety rules and to provide necessary training.
Employers who do not comply with these requirements may face up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won. If a violation leads to a worker's death, the penalty is up to seven years in prison or a fine of up to 100 million won.
With the enforcement of the amendment, the ministry plans to provide guidance on related safety rules to business sites with tasks at risk of asphyxiation and to winter construction sites. Construction sites face a risk of asphyxiation not only during interior work in water tanks and septic tanks, but also from carbon monoxide poisoning during concrete curing.
This year, accidents involving workers suffocating from toxic gases while working in confined spaces such as manholes have continued. Through Oct., at least nine accidents occurred, leaving six workers dead. On Oct. 26, a suffocation accident in an underground tank at a zinc processing company in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, left three workers dead and one in critical condition.