In the third year of the implementation of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, the total number of industrial accident fatalities decreased last year, but fatalities at small construction sites increased. Small construction sites with project amounts of 500 million to 5 billion won became subject to the Serious Accident Punishment Act from last year, but fatalities increased compared to 2023. On the 11th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor published the '2024 Industrial Accident Status Supplementary Statistics,' which included these findings.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor statistics, 83 people died from industrial accidents at small construction sites last year. This is an increase of 6 from 77 people in 2023. In contrast, fatalities at construction sites with project amounts over 5 billion won were 95 last year, a decrease of 27 from 122 in 2023.
The Serious Accident Punishment Act has been in effect since January 2022. It has not been applied uniformly across all business sites. The scope of applicability has been gradually expanded based on the number of workers and project amounts.
The government releases industrial accident fatality statistics annually. Fatalities in the construction industry were 341 in 2022, 303 in 2023, and 276 in 2024, showing an overall decreasing trend. Fatalities in the manufacturing industry were 171 in 2022, 170 in 2023, and 175 in 2024, initially decreasing then rising again. Fatalities in other industries, excluding construction and manufacturing, were 132 in 2022, 125 in 2023, and 138 in 2024, indicating a shift from decrease to increase.
Choi Tae-ho, the Industrial Safety and Health Policy Director of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, noted, "It is difficult to clearly state that the Serious Accident Punishment Act has shown significant effects across all industries and business sites based on the statistics alone."
However, the total number of industrial accident fatalities across all industries has been recorded as decreasing each year. The figures were 644 in 2022, 598 in 2023, and 589 in 2024. During the same period, the number of fatal accidents also consistently decreased, with 611 cases in 2022, 598 in 2023, and 553 in 2024.
In the same industry, the construction industry had the most fatalities and fatal accidents. In 2022, there were 328 accidents resulting in 341 fatalities in the construction industry. In 2023, there were 297 accidents with 303 fatalities. Last year, 276 people died as a result of 272 accidents.
"Falling" has been the leading cause of fatalities for three consecutive years. The number of workers who died from falls was recorded as 268 in 2022 and 251 each in 2023 and 2024.