The Occupational Safety and Health Act was partially revised on Feb. 19, with some provisions taking effect June 1. Notably, the revision introduced obligations newly imposed on employers, such as the disclosure of safety and health status, as well as previously nonexistent sanctions including fines for violations of risk assessment requirements. The main contents are reviewed below.
The first major revision is the introduction of a "safety and health status disclosure" system. Beginning Aug. 1, 2026, employers using more than a certain number of workers, along with public institutions, local public corporations, and local public agencies, must annually disclose the following: their safety and health management system; the status of industrial accidents; the previous year's safety and health activity performance and the current year's safety and health activity plan; investments related to safety and health; and measures to prevent the recurrence of industrial accidents along with implementation plans. According to the proposed amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which was announced for legislative notice in March 2026, in the case of private companies, businesses employing 500 or more full-time workers and construction firms with annual construction project values of 120 billion won or more are subject to the disclosure obligation. Violations of this disclosure obligation are subject to a fine of up to 10 million won.
The next notable change is the "strengthening of the risk assessment system." The revised Occupational Safety and Health Act and the proposed amendment to its Enforcement Rules require workers to participate in risk assessments through methods such as patrol inspections, surveys, and interviews, and also require worker participation when requested by worker representatives. In addition, employers must inform workers of the results of risk assessments—including the schedule for conducting risk assessments, the harmful and hazardous factors identified, the improvement measures established, the implementation plans and results of improvement measures, and matters requiring caution during workers' tasks—through safety and health education, briefing sessions, workplace postings, or written or electronic methods. In particular, employers must make efforts to continuously inform workers about harmful and hazardous factors that could lead to serious accidents through means such as pre-work safety inspection meetings (Tool Box Meetings). These revised provisions on risk assessment apply to risk assessments conducted after the revised law took effect on June 1, 2026.
Under this revision, a fine of up to 10 million won is imposed for failing to conduct a risk assessment; a fine of up to 5 million won is imposed for failing to involve workers or worker representatives, or for failing to inform workers of risk assessment-related matters, even if a risk assessment was conducted; and a fine of up to 3 million won is imposed for failing to record and preserve the results of a risk assessment. However, under the supplementary provisions, the imposition of fines for violations is deferred until Jan. 1, 2027, for workplaces using 50 or more full-time workers (for the construction industry, workplaces with construction project values of 5 billion won or more), and until Jan. 1, 2028, for workplaces using fewer than 50 full-time workers (construction project values of less than 5 billion won).
In addition, the revision introduced an expansion of the scope of investigations into the causes of accidents, the public disclosure of accident investigation reports as a general rule, and the participation of honorary industrial safety supervisors during workplace inspections by the Regional Employment and Labor Office. Workplaces need to familiarize themselves with these revised provisions and prepare accordingly.
