The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) said on the 11th it will begin procedures to select 1,000 "safe workplace guardians," who will make unannounced rounds of small business sites to help prevent industrial accidents.
The safe workplace guardian program uses the expertise of retirees and others with relevant practical experience or qualifications to reduce industrial accidents at small and midsize business sites in construction, manufacturing, and shipbuilding. It was newly created this year to reduce serious accidents.
The selection will total 1,000 people. Of these, 800 will be hired as employees: 600 in construction, 150 in manufacturing, and 50 in shipbuilding. Retirees age 50 or older with at least six months of experience in the field or with a safety-related qualification are eligible.
There will be 200 commissioned guardians: 130 in construction, 50 in manufacturing, and 20 in shipbuilding. There is no age limit, but applicants must be affiliated staff of labor-management organizations and have at least two years of experience in the field. Those with safety and health qualifications will receive preference.
Those finally selected through hiring or commissioning procedures will begin activities in early next month after job training.
The 1,000 safe workplace guardians selected this time will conduct a total of 277,500 inspections and guidance visits annually.
They will visit vulnerable business sites for industrial accidents to provide information on safety rules, including fall prevention, and, if safety facilities are needed, they will also connect the sites to the ministry's financial support programs.
If a site visited by a safe workplace guardian refuses improvement guidance, the ministry's industrial safety inspections may follow.
Applicants for hired positions can visit the local offices of the Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency (KOSHA) in their preferred work area or submit participation applications by mail by 6 p.m. on the 22nd.
Those applying for commissioned positions must submit online by 6 p.m. on the 20th.
Ryu Hyun-cheol, head of the Ministry of Employment and Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Office, emphasized, "We plan to focus safe workplace guardians on micro business sites and small construction sites to make every effort to close the risk gap."