ABSTRACT
Background@#According to the previous studies, the work-related accident rate decreased in Korea after the introduction of occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS), but there were several disasters in Korea such as subway worker's death at Guui station in 2016 and the Taean thermal power plant accident in 2018, which escalated the social demand for safety. In 2018, OHSMS became an international standard, as ISO45001 was announced. @*Methods@#A survey was conducted to research the implementation status of OHSMS and changes in people's perception, and the results were compared with those of a past survey. @*Results@#Enhanced social demand and various stakeholders' (not only buyer) needs, and social responsibility are perceived as the motivation for the introduction of OHSMS rather than legal compliance or customer demand. In the questionnaire about problems with the implementation of OHSMS, the factors with higher response rate in 2018 than 2004 were “excessive cost” and “complicated documentation management.” In the questionnaire about how to promote OHSMS in organizations, most people answered “reduction of workers' compensation insurance rate” in 2004, but most people answered “exemption from health and safety supervision” in 2018. @*Conclusion@#For the effective implementation of ISO45001, emphasis is placed on social demand, training to recognize health and safety as a part of management, and the reduction of certification and consulting costs to promote the introduction of OHSMS. Incentives such as insurance premium cuts and exemptions from health and safety supervision are needed.
ABSTRACT
Background@#According to the previous studies, the work-related accident rate decreased in Korea after the introduction of occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS), but there were several disasters in Korea such as subway worker's death at Guui station in 2016 and the Taean thermal power plant accident in 2018, which escalated the social demand for safety. In 2018, OHSMS became an international standard, as ISO45001 was announced. @*Methods@#A survey was conducted to research the implementation status of OHSMS and changes in people's perception, and the results were compared with those of a past survey. @*Results@#Enhanced social demand and various stakeholders' (not only buyer) needs, and social responsibility are perceived as the motivation for the introduction of OHSMS rather than legal compliance or customer demand. In the questionnaire about problems with the implementation of OHSMS, the factors with higher response rate in 2018 than 2004 were “excessive cost” and “complicated documentation management.” In the questionnaire about how to promote OHSMS in organizations, most people answered “reduction of workers' compensation insurance rate” in 2004, but most people answered “exemption from health and safety supervision” in 2018. @*Conclusion@#For the effective implementation of ISO45001, emphasis is placed on social demand, training to recognize health and safety as a part of management, and the reduction of certification and consulting costs to promote the introduction of OHSMS. Incentives such as insurance premium cuts and exemptions from health and safety supervision are needed.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The study was conducted to investigate the current status of the occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS) in the construction industry and the effect of OHSMS on accident rates. Differences of awareness levels on safety issues among site general managers and occupational health and safety (OHS) managers are identified through surveys. METHODS: The accident rates for the OHSMS-certified construction companies from 2006 to 2011, when the construction OHSMS became widely available, were analyzed to understand the effect of OHSMS on the work-related injury rates in the construction industry. The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency 18001 is the certification to these companies performing OHSMS in South Korea. The questionnaire was created to analyze the differences of OHSMS awareness between site general managers and OHS managers of construction companies. RESULTS: The implementation of OHSMS among the top 100 construction companies in South Korea shows that the accident rate decreased by 67% and the fatal accident rate decreased by 10.3% during the period from 2006 to 2011. The survey in this study shows different OHSMS awareness levels between site general managers and OHS managers. The differences were motivation for developing OHSMS, external support needed for implementing OHSMS, problems and effectiveness of implementing OHSMS. CONCLUSION: Both work-related accident and fatal accident rates were found to be significantly reduced by implementing OHSMS in this study. The differences of OHSMS awareness between site general managers and OHS managers were identified through a survey. The effect of these differences on safety and other benefits warrants further research with proper data collection.