Parcels are stacked at a CJ Logistics' logistics center in Gwangju, southeast of Seoul, in this Dec. 28, 2021 file photo. Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han

The labor ministry launched a task force Wednesday to discuss ways to improve the workplace safety law punishing employers for serious industrial accidents amid concern from businesses that the law is too harsh and questions about its effectiveness.

The task force is comprised of eight experts in law, economy and industrial safety, and aimed at improving the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which took effect last January, they said. The task force will be active until June.

Under the law, business owners or CEOs of companies with 50 or more employees are subject to at least one year in prison or up to 1 billion won ($804,000) in fines in the event of deadly on-duty disasters caused by lax workplace safety measures.

For companies with 50 or fewer employees ― which account for about 80 percent of all serious accidents ― the government gave a grace period until Jan. 27, 2024. Companies with less than five employees are not subject to the law.

The number of on-duty disasters has not fallen since the law took effect, raising questions about its effectiveness. Business owners have argued the law does not clearly define the criteria of punishment.

Earlier, the labor ministry announced it seeks to shift the focus of workplace safety policy from punishment to self-regulation and prevention.

The ministry also said it will give more weight to businesses' self-regulated prevention systems, under which labor and management cooperate in discovering and improving risk factors based on the guidelines imposed by the state. (Yonhap)