Ministry of Health and Welfare assigns 613 safety staff to senior jobs

South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare said on Aug. 5 it had newly assigned 613 dedicated safety personnel to senior employment programs, as participation rises and demand grows for on-site safety management.

The program will operate a record 1.152 million jobs in 2026, including 197,000 positions using older workers' capabilities in care, safety and environmental fields, up 36,000 from a year earlier.

The newly assigned personnel will work at implementing agencies and local governments, overseeing participant safety training, workplace inspections, insurance management, safety supplies and follow-up after accidents.

The ministry is also expanding safety-management support to 200 institutions this year, after a pilot last year identified and addressed 3,395 hazards and risk factors at 100 institutions.

The expanded support program will help implementing agencies comply with safety-related laws, inspect and improve risks, and provide safety-management training for staff. Participating institutions will assess potential hazards arising during activities, establish safety-management systems and receive training and consulting designed to strengthen their response capabilities.

It will also pilot a program-safety rating system at 167 implementing agencies taking part in the support program, evaluating safety capability, safety level and safety performance. Institutions that perform well will receive benefits under the pilot, intended to encourage voluntary participation in safety management.

The ministry also plans to analyze field cases and safety data gathered from the staffing, support and ratings initiatives to develop a standard safety-management model suited to senior employment programs. The model would organize hazards, risk factors and remedies in a database for all implementing agencies to use as standard safety-management criteria. That framework is intended to allow rapid responses to identified risks and help agencies prepare measures to prevent accident recurrence.

Choi Bong-geun, a senior policy official at the ministry, said participant safety is a vital foundation for high-quality senior employment programs. Choi said the new staff and agency support would help prevent risks proactively and establish a safer environment for participants.