Employees enter Samsung Electronics' facility in Suwon in this June 11 2020 file photo. Korea Times photo by Hong In-ki

By Baek Byung-yeul

Samsung Electronics has banned its employees from using their smartphones while walking, and people must now wear helmets while using bicycles at its major worksites, as part of its moves to respond to a new workplace disaster law, company officials said Wednesday.

The officials said the company's Device eXperience (DX) Division informed its employees recently that it will implement five safety rules in order to ensure workplace safety.

"We began implementing five safety regulations at major workplaces such as the Suwon facility starting from Jan. 24," a company spokeswoman said.

The five safety rules include prohibitions on jaywalking, the use of smartphones while walking and while driving, a speed limit for vehicles on company facilities and mandatory helmets while riding bicycles. "Not using phones while walking has been a recommendation since 2016, but it has now been banned," the official added.

Visitors to the worksites will also be notified of these five regulations at the time of applying for a visitor pass and during the actual visit, and their access will be restricted for a certain period of time if they violate the regulations without a good reason.

The regulations come at a time when the country begins implementing the industrial accident law that imposes legal responsibility on the CEO or owner of a company that experiences accidents at industrial sites due to lax safety precautions.

Under the law, which took effect Jan. 27, business owners and CEOs can be imprisoned for over one year or fined up to 1 billion won ($830,682) for industrial accidents caused by poor workplace safety measures.

By mandating these safety regulations that are easy to follow in workplaces, Samsung is trying to raise awareness and create an atmosphere of safety practices. The company emphasized to its employees that it should do its best to prevent accidents and that workplace safety is essential, not optional.

This law is expected to be applied to Sampyo Industry, which experienced a landslide accident recently at its quarry. On Jan. 29, the landslide occurred on its quarry slope in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, leaving three workers dead.

Due to the accident, officials from the Ministry of Employment and Labor conducted a search of the company's offices, Jan. 31. If it is confirmed that company management did not fulfill its obligation to prevent the accident, they can be put on trial and sentenced to more than a year in prison of fined up to 1 billion won.