Field Safety BriefingFIELD SAFETY BRIEFING
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English names and summaries of Korean laws are unofficial translations. The Korean text on the Korean Law Information Center (law.go.kr) prevails.

Preparing for MOEL inspection and investigation in Korea

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Key terms in Korean and English
Safety Kim organizes implementation evidence and improvement records

1. Records the law requires you to keep

OSH Act Article 164(1) — 3 years (meeting minutes: 2 years)

  1. Appointment records for the safety and health manager-in-chief, safety officers, health officers, safety and health managers and occupational physicians
  2. Minutes of the occupational safety and health committee and the labor-management council (2 years)
  3. Records of safety and health measures specified by MOEL ordinance
  4. Records of the causes of industrial accidents
  5. Records of hazard investigations of chemical substances
  6. Work environment monitoring records
  7. Health examination records

SAPA Enforcement Decree Article 13 — 5 years

2. What to show for each SAPA duty

Basis Duty Evidence Commonly missing
Decree Art. 4 sub. 1 Safety and health goals and management policy Policy, goals and indicators, records of sharing A generic statement unrelated to site hazards
Art. 4 sub. 2 Dedicated safety and health organization (if 3+ statutory staff and 500+ regular workers, or a top-200 construction firm) Organization chart, job descriptions Run as a side duty when required
Art. 4 sub. 3 Procedure to identify and improve hazards; review at least every six months (deemed done if risk assessments under Art. 36 of the OSH Act are carried out and reported) Procedure, risk assessments, improvement records, reports to management Assessments without improvement or reporting
Art. 4 sub. 4 Budget for people, facilities, equipment and hazard improvement, spent as planned Budget and spending records linked to sub. 3 items Budget planned but no proof of spending
Art. 4 sub. 5 Authority and budget for the safety and health manager-in-chief, supervisors and safety and health general managers; evaluation criteria and six-monthly evaluation Delegation documents, criteria, evaluation results General HR appraisal used instead
Art. 4 sub. 6 Statutory number of safety officers etc.; working time guaranteed if combined with other duties Appointment records and notifications, working-time basis Appointed on paper only
Art. 4 sub. 7 Procedure to hear workers; six-monthly review of improvements (deemed heard through the OSH committee or councils) Suggestion log, replies, minutes Received but no action or reply
Art. 4 sub. 8 Emergency manual; six-monthly review Manual, drill records, review results Manual without drills or reviews
Art. 4 sub. 9 Criteria and procedures for selecting contractors (capability, safety cost, and for construction and shipbuilding, schedule); six-monthly review Contractor evaluations, cost and schedule criteria, review results Criteria not applied to actual selection or renewal
Decree Art. 5(2) sub. 1–2 Six-monthly review of compliance with safety and health laws; staffing or budget action if non-compliance is found Review results, reports, follow-up records Review without follow-up
Decree Art. 5(2) sub. 3–4 Six-monthly review of mandatory training for hazardous work; instructions and budget for missed training Training status, review results, instructions Training logs without review
SAPA Art. 4(1) sub. 2 Recurrence prevention after an accident Template F Same type of accident repeats
SAPA Art. 4(1) sub. 3 Compliance with improvement or correction orders of authorities Orders and compliance reports No proof of compliance

3. What courts have focused on

From the case-law analysis in MOEL's 2025 white paper (as of end-September 2025):

Check those three first: hazard identification and improvement records, supervisor evaluations, and worker consultation with replies.

4. Gaps that recur in the 32 in-depth cases

5. Six-monthly routine

  1. Use Template G to review Decree Art. 4 sub. 3, 5(b), 7, 8 and 9 and Art. 5(2) sub. 1 and 3.
  2. Report the results to the responsible management officer and record the date.
  3. Record staffing and budget actions for any gaps (Art. 5(2) sub. 2 and 4).
  4. Keep all records in a five-year file (Decree Art. 13).

Korean statutory excerpts

Occupational Safety and Health Act · OSH Act Enforcement Rule · Serious Accidents Punishment Act · SAPA Enforcement Decree

Organising inspection and investigation records by responsibility

For a records request, allocate what the equipment contact, work supervisor and record custodian will provide. Connect actual records with the responsible person’s confirmation instead of relying on one person to remember the entire sequence.

Distinguish material already submitted from material requested later. Hand over the request, delivery status and outstanding checks together to reduce omissions and inconsistent accounts.