“For foreigners injured at the work site, too few options, too much fear”
Mr. Han, a Chinese laborer, fractured his toe while working in Korea…
In April 2024, just four days into his job at a honey farm in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang, a stack of plastic pallets slipped from his hands and crushed his toes. It was not the kind of accident he was trained to avoid, Han recalled in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at a cafe in Seoul on Sept. 9.
“All the employer taught me was how to open and close beehive frames,” Han said. “No safety education or protective shoes were provided, and nowhere was the worksite perfectly safe.”
Han’s injury at the honey farm was not his first industrial accident. While working at a waste-processing facility in Gangbuk District in northern Seoul several years ago, Han fell from a three-meter-high (9.8-feet-high) platform that was fixed improperly, resulting in broken ribs…
…difficulties in navigating the Korean legal and social welfare systems often bar them from damage relief…
…Initially, his employer suggested a settlement of 500,000 won ($360) to cover three months of temporary disability benefits and medical bills. Han found the offer “unfair.”…
On Aug. 4, a Burmese worker was rendered unconscious after being electrocuted while inspecting an underwater pump at a highway construction site in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi…