Financial assistance to small work places

KOSHA continues to give financial assistance this year, to small-sized work places with less than 10 workers for work environment assessment and specific medical check-up as they are more exposed to risks than those in large companies.

President Hun-ki Baek of KOSHA said on Jan. 21 that the financial assistance would support workers who are highly exposed to risks such as chemical materials, dust and noise at small-sized work places.

The work environment assessment and specific medical check-up are two of the employers’ obligations, who have to conduct them on a regular base if the work place uses chemical materials or create dust and noise, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Act, in Korea. This is however, gives burden to the budget of the small-sized work places and KOSHA has been supporting employers of the small-sized work places in that sense since 2009.

For the expense of the work environment assessment, employers may receive 70% of it maximum, within KRW 400,000. Meanwhile, newly-opened work places may be supported by 100% of the expense within KRW 1 million and cost for specific medical check-up at the 1^st and 2^nd stage, are assisted without limit.

KOSHA takes the application of employers through its website and pays the organizations that conducted assessment and medical check-up.

Over the past year, the agency supported 10,690 work places in terms of work environment assessment cost and paid 75,618 workers’ specific medical check-up. A person from KOSHA said that employers’ keeping of interest in this kind of assistance is all the more important as it supports workers’ health and pleasant work places, adding that employers could contact local offices or area offices when they have any questions about this financial assistance.