Starting January 1 of
next year, fines will be imposed for violations of mandatory risk assessment requirements at construction sites with project costs of 5 billion won or more. Construction companies, which have previously focused primarily on whether assessments were conducted, must now ensure worker participation, share assessment results, and implement corrective measures. This is expected to place a greater burden on small and medium-sized construction companies that lack dedicated safety departments.
In this news segment, we’ll summarize the administrative fine standards taking effect next year, the impact based on site size, and the areas the industry considers most challenging in practice.
Risk assessment is a system whereby employers identify hazardous and risky factors in work processes, determine the level of risk, and develop and implement improvement measures. While there was already an obligation to conduct these assessments, this year’s amendment to the Occupational Safety and Health Act has strengthened the requirements for worker participation and the sharing of assessment results, and introduced new provisions for administrative fines in cases of non-compliance.
The fines are divided into three categories: up to 10 million won for failing to conduct a risk assessment; up to 5 million won for failing to comply with mandatory procedures such as worker participation or sharing assessment results; and up to 3 million won for failing to record and retain assessment results. The effective dates are January of next year for construction sites with a project value of 5 billion won or more, and January 2028 for sites with a project value of less than 5 billion won.
What stands out is that the three categories differ in nature. While compliance with the requirement to conduct a risk assessment is determined simply by whether it was done or not, compliance with worker participation, sharing of results, and record-keeping and retention depends on whether evidence of having carried out these actions remains.
While large construction firms have dedicated safety organizations and their own management systems, it is not uncommon for small and medium-sized companies to handle construction progress, quality, and safety management simultaneously with limited personnel. Since projects with a construction cost of 5 billion won or more will be subject to administrative fines starting next year—regardless of company size—it has become essential to review the management systems at each site in advance.
At sites where a single person oversees construction, quality, and safety, the new burden lies not so much in the evaluation itself as in the paperwork surrounding it.
Industry voices are calling for operations that take site-specific characteristics into account to enhance the system’s effectiveness. There is concern that in situations where process changes and subcontractor replacements are frequent, if work becomes overly focused on managing assessment records and supporting documentation, the actual activities of identifying and addressing risk factors could be pushed to the back burner.
A construction industry official noted that, given the constant changes in construction processes and the frequent turnover of subcontractor personnel, “continuously managing the implementation process afterward is more difficult” than simply conducting a single risk assessment. It has been pointed out that rather than focusing on preparing documents and supporting evidence to avoid fines, a practical management system that allows for the timely identification and correction of risk factors on-site is essential.
This is where Digital Presso sees a key issue. The industry’s concern points to a structure where documentation and actual improvement efforts compete for the same limited time. If there is only one person in charge and the day is fixed, the time spent preparing documents is time taken away from inspecting the site. Since two of the penalty categories require “proof that the work was done,” this conflict could intensify starting next year.
Digitalpresso’s B2B comprehensive construction platform, RenameDP, resolves this issue through automated record-keeping. By providing risk assessments and TBM (pre-work safety briefing) documents tailored to each site and handling attendees’ electronic signatures directly within the app, worker participation and the sharing of assessment results are documented on the spot as evidence without the need for separate paperwork. Assessment results and corrective actions are preserved in the document management system, ensuring compliance with record-keeping and retention requirements.
It also adapts to situations where work processes change or subcontractors are replaced. Since previous assessments can be retrieved and updated for each site—with the change history recorded alongside them—it’s easy to review what information was shared with new personnel. When documentation becomes a byproduct of the work itself, the time previously spent by staff can be redirected back to the job site.
The purpose of this system is not to increase paperwork. The intent behind mandating worker participation and the sharing of results is to ensure that evaluations do not end at a desk.
However, the reality is that as obligations increase, so does the burden of providing supporting documentation, and determining where to alleviate that burden remains a challenge for workplaces as they prepare for next year. There are two and a half months remaining.
The Korea Economic Daily, “Risk Assessment Fines Imminent… Small and Medium-Sized Construction Firms Face an Urgent Crisis,” 2026 — https://www.dnews.co.kr/uhtml/view.jsp?idxno=202610141120441340522
Ministry of Employment and Labor and the construction industry (cited in the article)
Provisions on Risk Assessment Obligations and Administrative Fines under the Amended Occupational Safety and Health Act (cited in the article)
This content was produced by Digital Presso Co., Ltd. and references the above materials. Please refer to the original text for further details.
