KBIZ Holds Policy Debate on Eliminating Industry Safety Gap among Large-Sized Companies and SMEs

KBIZ Standing Vice Chmn. Oh Ki-ung, ISPF Chmn. Ahn Kyung-duk and President Lee Byung-hee of Korea Labor Research Institute pose for a photo as they attended a policy debate on eliminating of industry safety gap among large-sized companies and SMEs at the KBIZ Building in Yeouido, Seoul, on Sept. 9. (Photo: KBIZ)

Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ) and the Foundation for Industry Safety Partnerships (ISPF) jointly held a policy debate on eliminating the safety gap among large-sized companies and SMEs at the KBIZ Building in Yeouido, Seoul.

The Sept. 9 debate was designed to look into structural issues in which small worksites with 50 employees or less were hit with industrial disasters and explore industry safety support steps SMEs can execute on the spot.

KBIZ Standing Vice Chmn. Oh Ki-ung delivered an opening speech in which SMEs with insufficient manpower and budget, particularly with a shortage of expertise manpower, find it hard to raise their own safety management capabilities.

He stressed cooperation so that large-sized companies’ safety management experiences, the government’s policy support and research institutions’ suggestions could be in place on the spot.

ISPF Chmn. Ahn Kyung-duk emphasized the need for working out guidelines and offering support.

He asserted that when and if the government and ISPF work out prevention guidelines and raise money, local governments and civilians offer on-the-sport support and the National Assembly carries out its own duties, it could reduce industry safety cap.

Park Jong-shik, a researcher with the Korea Labor Institute (KLI), suggested the need for expanding the unit of safety and health management policies from the conventional individual worksite to a collective one by reflecting the industrial structures of small worksites.

As for in-house subcontracting, Park called for ramping up prime contractors’ responsibility and roles and introducing each district and industry sector’s joint management regime for outsourced contractors and independent SMEs.

Suh Jung-soo, a team leader with ISPF, released outcomes of an integrated support project targeting worksites with 100 employees or fewer for the past three years.

An analysis of 186 support recipients for the year 2024 showed that they saw their disaster rate decline 16.7 percent year-on-year, and the number of serious disasters fell from six cases to one.

The average safety and health management regime evaluation score improved sharply, increasing from 35 points to 65.

Prof. Kang Sung-gyu of Gachon University Gil Hospital chaired an integrated debate. Experts of each sector, including Yang Ok-seok, head of the Manpower Policy Division at KBIZ, Moon Byung-doo, chief of the SME Support Office at Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency and Kim Joon-hoo, director of the Industrial Disaster Prevention Support Department at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, shared views on the strengthening of SMEs’ safety capabilities, the direction of policy support and future tasks.

Yang Ok-seok, head of the Manpower Policy Division at KBIZ, said, “In order to eliminate industry safety gap, it is necessary to raise SMEs’ actual execution capabilities, not a method of imposing them with responsibilities, and it needs to work out a regime in which worksites with 50 employees or less can carry out on a step-by-step basis, rather than uniformly expanding their responsibilities as well as each district and industry sector’ joint safety management regime.”

KBIZ plans to continue consultations with related institutions, such as the government and the National Assembly, based on filed views collected from the debate while expanding excellent safety management examples through member cooperations and industry organizations.

KBIZ and Garden Grove, Calf. Join Forces to Create ‘Korean SME Market Entry Center’

Korea Federation of SMEs has teamed up with Garden Grove, Calif., to help Korean SMEs enter the U.S. market.

KBIZ struck an MOU on supporting Korean SMEs’ U.S. market entry through the revitalizing Koreans’ business district with Garden Grove at the Garden Grove Police Department on Aug. 27.

Garden Grove, a city in northern Orange County, Calif., is indulged with tourist with proximity with major tourist sites, such as Disneyland.

The city has major district business centers, such as food, dining and tourism. It has a Korean business district dubbed “Little Seoul.”

Garden Grove City was the first U.S. local government to strike an MOU with KBIZ, based on the district’s strong points.

Both sides agreed to support Korean SMEs’ U.S. market entry, promote public relations of the Korean business district in Garden Grove and cooperate to build each other’s business network.

KBIZ delivered a signboard to declare Garden Glove as “K-Food & K-Goods Friendly City” in recognition of thanking the American city for its efforts to invigorate the K-food industry and their determination to cooperate.

KBIZ Chmn. Kim Ki-moon said, “We propose detailed ways of promoting cooperation, such as supporting Korean SMEs wanting to enter the whole of the United States, including California by inaugurating “Korea Desk” in Garden Grove.”

Chmn. Kim also proposed the establishment of regular space for selling and displaying excellent SMEs’ products and the holding of a Korean goods’ exhibition targeting local consumers at year-end.

Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein revealed her willingness to cooperate on the proposals, saying it would help revive the local economy by making the most of its strengths.