이주노동자 노동현장서 사고사망 60% ‘떨어짐·끼임·부딪힘’

A migrant worker from Myanmar named Aung Min Oo, aged 37, tragically lost his life on July 1st while working alone on a construction site in the KTX line expansion project between Pungnang and Osong, South Chungcheong Province. Then, on July 26th, Vietnamese migrant worker An Vang Bang, 39, died after falling from a crane structure at a factory in Ichon, Gyeonggi Province.

Out of the 10 migrant workers who died due to workplace accidents, six of them succumbed to falling, entrapment, or being struck by accidents, which are common types of workplace hazards. This phenomenon, often referred to as "the relocation of risk," is attributed to inadequate safety measures in industrial workplaces. According to the Korean Labor and Social Insurance Ministry, 369 migrant workers died in workplace accidents in 2022, representing 59.6% (220) of all workplace accidents.

In 2023, 2024, and the first quarter of 2024, the number of such deaths was 51, 57, and 13, respectively. Even with basic safety protocols, these "backward-type workplace accidents" continue to recur. The total number of workplace accidents among migrant workers has also been on the rise, from 7,778 in 2020 to 8,886 in 2022, 10,161 in 2024, and 10,332 in 2025.

The number of workplace accident approvals in the first half of this year alone reached 6,918. It is a concern for Yeon Duk, a member of the 'Salt Grass Tree' organization working to support migrant workers' legal rights, who stated, "The workplace accident rate among migrant workers is three times higher than that of domestic workers.

This is due to the fact that they are assigned dangerous tasks and cannot demand job stops or work halts due to the employment permit system. The government needs to severely punish business owners and overhaul the employment permit system."