⛑️ Occupational Safety & Health Training
Occupational safety and health training has the longest hours and the most detailed rules of the five statutory mandatory training subjects. It is not “once a year”: the hours must be completed every half-year (January–June and July–December), and the hours differ for office workers, field workers, and supervisors.
The exemptions are broad, though. Besides workplaces with fewer than 5 employees, some industries, such as finance and insurance, software, and business support services, have no employee training obligation regardless of size, so first check whether your company is covered. The fine applies per employee who did not receive the training.
Legal requirements at a glance
Legal basis: Occupational Safety and Health Act Art. 29 · Enforcement Decree Annex 1 (exemptions) · Enforcement Rule Art. 26 and Annexes 4–5 · Safety and Health Training Regulation (Ministry of Employment and Labor notice) · Administrative fines: Art. 175
| Audience | Workplaces with 5 or more regular employees. Workplaces with fewer than 5 are subject to special training only. |
|---|---|
| Industry exemptions | Software development and supply, computer programming and system integration, information services, finance and insurance, other professional services and engineering, business support services, and social welfare services, among others, are exempt from employee training (excluding special training) regardless of size. Agriculture, retail, real estate, and health services (excluding hospitals) are exempt if they have fewer than 50 employees, and workplaces with only office workers are also exempt. |
| Employee refresher training | Office workers and employees directly engaged in sales: at least 6 hours every half-year. All other employees: at least 12 hours every half-year (changed from quarterly to half-yearly by the September 2023 amendment). |
| Supervisors | Refresher training at least 16 hours per year, 8 hours upon hiring, 2 hours upon a change in job duties |
| Training upon hiring | Daily workers and fixed-term workers of 1 week or less: at least 1 hour; fixed-term workers of more than 1 week up to 1 month: at least 4 hours; other workers: at least 8 hours |
| When job duties change | Daily workers and fixed-term workers of 1 week or less: at least 1 hour; other workers: at least 2 hours |
| Hour reductions | Wholesale, accommodation, and food service businesses with fewer than 50 regular employees get a special provision of half the training hours, and if there were no industrial accidents in the previous year, refresher training can be reduced by up to 50% the following year. |
| Training methods | In-house training can be delivered in a classroom, on site, through online distance learning, or as live non-face-to-face sessions. Distance learning must meet conditions such as at least 60 minutes per subject, and for supervisor refresher training, at least half of the annual hours must be delivered by non-distance methods. Simplified training that substitutes posting or distributing materials does not exist. |
| Instructor qualifications | Safety and health managers, supervisors, safety officers, health officers, industrial safety and health consultants, graduates of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency’s instructor program, and those meeting the criteria in Annex 1 of the Safety and Health Training Regulation (certified labor attorneys, practitioners with 3+ years at a specialized institution, etc.) may deliver it. An external instructor with these qualifications also counts as in-house training. |
| Fines | The fine applies per employee who did not complete the training. Employee refresher and hiring training: KRW KRW 100,000, (≈ US$75) 200,000, and KRW 500,000 (≈ US$375) (1st, 2nd, and 3rd offense). Supervisor refresher training: KRW KRW 500,000, (≈ US$375) 2.5 million, and KRW 5 million (≈ US$3,740). Amounts increase with repeat violations over the past 5 years and are reduced depending on workplace size. |
| Records | Keep a training log and attendee signatures. The law sets no retention period, so we recommend keeping them for 3 years. |
What the training must cover
The content of employee refresher training is set out in Table 5 of the Enforcement Rule. Typical topics include the following.
- Industrial safety and accident prevention
- Occupational health and prevention of occupational diseases
- Risk assessment
- Health promotion and disease prevention
- Management of hazardous and risky work environments
- Occupational safety and health laws and the industrial accident compensation insurance system
- Prevention and management of job stress
- Preventing and managing health impairment caused by workplace harassment, abusive customers, and similar causes
Common points of confusion
Check first whether your industry is covered — IT, finance, insurance, business support services, and similar industries have no regular worker training obligation. Conversely, manufacturing, construction, and transportation are covered almost without exception. This is the point corporate training vendors most often get wrong.
Complete each half-year separately — Missing the first half and cramming training into the second half can count as non-compliance for the first half. The deadlines are June 30 and December 31. “3 hours every quarter” was the standard before the 2023 amendment.
Supervisors are separate — Those designated as supervisors, such as site foremen and team leads, take 16 hours of supervisor training a year instead of regular worker training, and at least half must be in person.
Workplace harassment is part of refresher training too — Employee refresher training covers preventing health harm from workplace harassment and abusive customers, plus job stress management. If you hold harassment prevention training on the same day, the overlapping content can be covered within the refresher training hours.
What official statistics show
Official national statistics, shown with their source and reference year. Figures are based on each survey’s respondents and update automatically when a new survey is released.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s “Industrial Accident Status” (2024), there were 142,771 injured workers that year, an accident rate of 0.67%.
Source: Ministry of Employment and Labor, “Industrial Accident Status” · KOSIS Korean Statistical Information Service
When Nanum Consulting delivers it
Nanum Consulting delivers this subject as the Occupational Safety and Health Training (Employee Refresher Training) course. It is not outsourced to a designated safety and health training institution. Instead, it is in-house training run by your workplace and taught by instructors who meet the qualifications set out in the Safety and Health Training Regulation. We schedule 6 hours per half-year for office workers as the baseline, and 12 hours per half-year for field workers. Training upon hiring is split into 2-hour sessions to fit headcount and schedules.
Add sexual harassment prevention, disability awareness, and privacy protection on the same day and the One-Day 4 Mandatory Trainings wraps up in a single 4-hour session. We also provide training log and attendee signature templates for each subject.
Supervisor training is scheduled separately as the Supervisor Program for the Serious Accidents Era — at least half of the 16 annual hours must be in person, so our 4-hour and 8-hour on-site sessions count in full. For executives, see also our Serious Accidents Punishment Act training.
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Calculated on the basis of 6 hours of semiannual regular training for office workers. If you add other subjects on the same day, it is calculated as a one-day (up to 8 hours) schedule.
Occupational Safety and Health — FAQ
Do office workers also need occupational safety and health training?
Do IT and financial companies also need occupational safety and health training?
Do workplaces with fewer than 5 employees need to provide occupational safety and health training?
Can occupational safety and health training be done online?
What is the fine for not providing occupational safety and health training?
View other mandatory training
Legal basis · Sources
- Occupational Safety and Health Act Art. 29 (Korea Law Information Center)
- Enforcement Rule of the same Act, Art. 26 (training hours and content)
- Safety and Health Training Regulation (Ministry of Employment and Labor notice)
- Article 175 of the same Act (fines)
The governing law, who is covered, hours, and fines may vary by workplace size, industry, and legal amendments. This page is general information to aid understanding. Please check the relevant laws and your local Ministry of Employment and Labor office to confirm how they apply to your workplace. .