KOSHA committed to accident-free workplaces.

Safe working conditions contribute to building a strong national economy. This is the belief on which the Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency (KOSHA) was established in 1987.

The agency said it aims to contribute to the development of the national economy by providing a safe and comfortable working environment for workers, while promoting employers to actively promote accident-free conditions by implementing various accident prevention activities.

This agency was established as a public organization to prevent accidents and diseases at the workplace on the basis of human respect, said Kim Yong-dal, president of KOSHA.

KOSHA officials noted that Korea's number of job-related accidents needs to drop, as it costs more than 10 trillion won in losses for the national economy. Currently, an average of seven laborers lose their lives in work-related accidents per day. Compared with developed countries, this translates to a rate of 1.49 deaths per 10,000 workers (not including disease-related deaths), which is 16.6 times higher than England's rate of 0.09, five times higher than Germany's 0.30 and Japan's 0.35 and four times higher than America's 0.36.

The agency said it has implemented measures to lower job-related deaths by 2005 to the level of the developed countries. To this end, the government has increased its financial support to KOSHA by 8 percent from the previous 5 percent.

As KOSHA seeks to protect industrial workers, the agency promises to make practically every aspect of their working day safer.

It claims that ensuring safety is the way to promote happiness at home and the prosperity of enterprises. It also aims to create a sound and comfortable working environment by thoroughly observing the occupational safety and health standards.

To meet these objectives, the organization has some of the following functions: research, development and dissemination of occupational accident prevention techniques; technical assistance to prevent accidents at workplaces; safety and health evaluations of hazardous work; inspection of hazardous machines, instruments and facilities; examination of hazard-prevention plans and safety culture promotion. It is also responsible for the compilation, publication and dissemination of materials necessary for occupational safety and health; providing financial assistance for accident prevention facilities and international cooperation among safety and health professional organizations.

KOSHA cooperates with the international community engaging in various activities to prevent occupational accidents and contraction of diseases through work. Some of the activities include exchange of techniques and information and providing overseas training. The agency has technical cooperation with institutes in such countries as the United States, Germany, Japan and Sweden. It also cooperates with international organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and ISO.