Costs of injuries and ill health in the workplace in South Korea

Abstract

Industrial accidents affect the sustainable development of any country, enterprise or individual. This study estimated the costs of loss due to industrial accidents in South Korea in 2013, based on the 4th Korean Working Conditions Survey. The total costs of loss were estimated at USD 27,224 million, with individuals losing the most at 79.5%, followed by employers at 20.4% and the government at 0.1%. These costs were equivalent to 2.1% of South Korea’s gross domestic product in 2013. The costs to society/death due to industrial accidents were USD 640,000; USD 7000/individual out of work for ≤3 days and USD 242,000/individual out of work for ≥4 days. These costs make it easy to calculate losses incurred due to industrial accidents. Costs of loss can also be used by the government as basic data to establish industrial safety and health policies.

Keywords:

• costs of loss
• accidents
• workplace injuries
• work-related ill health
• South Korea

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Kwan Woo Kim http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3636-8128

Notes

1. EUR 1 = KRW 1450; USD 1 = KRW 1100 (2013).