[Best Anti-Corruption Policy]

Let’s Make a Safe Society Together!

- ACRC introduces outstanding integrity policies in the safety area, such as “Citizen Inspector for Public Safety” policy of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority and “Safety Consulting”of the Korea Environment Corporation, etc. -

March 27, 2020

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission

The Republic of Korea

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF), the Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority (KOMSA), and the Korea Environment Corporation (K-eco) are at the forefront of realizing a safe society by implementing safety management policies with joint participation of frontline workers, experts and the general public.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Pak Un Jong) has continued identifying and spreading excellent anti-corruption policies that have been implemented in multiple areas by various public agencies, in order that the public agencies and private sector may refer to those policies in the course of their policy formulation and enforcement.

Previously, the ACRC has introduced a “Threefold Monitoring System” of the Busan Port Authority which aims at preventing inspectors from turning a blind eye to misconducts at the construction site by having the officials in charge from the inspection division of the Authority together with citizen inspectors participate in the safety inspection to curb corruption as well as safety accidents at the construction site.

The ACRC selected policy cases of the MOF, KOMSA, and K-eco as best-performing integrity policies in the area of safety and security.

First of all, the MOF and KOMSA conduct a private-public joint safety inspection and identify areas in need of further institutional improvements by operating a “Citizen Inspector for Public Safety” system in which the general public can take part directly in the safety management of liners.

The K-eco also removes safety risk factors in advance by operating a “Voluntary Reporting Center for Industrial Safety”to which workers can directly report on-site safety issues and cooperating with agencies specialized in safety management provide safety consulting services for small and medium construction firms.

(Citizen Inspector for Public Safety) the MOF and KOMSA selected and appointed 15 people as citizen inspectors for public safety through public contests and had them participate directly in the safety management of passenger ships. These people also received prior instruction on the liner safety-related laws and the current sailing status of ships carrying passengers along with integrity training, including education on the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.

The two agencies have conducted private-public joint safety inspection and at the same time, had undercover citizen inspectors for public safety carry out inspection independently. In this process, an official guideline for inspection was given so as to stave off any abuse of discretionary authority rendered to citizen inspectors with regard to safety inspection.

The citizen inspectors for public safety contributed to managing the safety of passenger ships by launching inspections on 41 passenger ships, identifying 60 safety risk factors related thereto, and requesting improvements in institutions causing inconvenience*.

* (Example) request for the inclusion of a mobile ID card in the scope of qualified identification cards

(Voluntary Reporting Center for Industrial Safety) the K-eco has been running “K-eco safety 119” where front line workers can voluntarily file a report on safety flaws they face.

Establishing the K-eco safety 119 has created a window for workers to directly raise issues like operation of unsafe facilities or equipment, safety-threatening work practices, and improper work orders, etc. and thereby made every worker on the spot play a role of “safety watcher.”

< Promotional materials for voluntary reporting center for industrial safety >

The K-eco is actively inducing more reports on safety issues by conducting promotional activities for the voluntary reporting center for industrial safety and guaranteeing anonymity of voluntary reporters. In addition, it operates a “system for workers to request the temporary suspension of work” in which workers may directly request the ordering body to temporarily suspend the construction work in the case where they become aware of hazardous situation.

(Safety Consulting) the K-eco provides safety consulting services to small and medium construction companies participating in the construction work concerned in conjunction with a professional agency specialized in safety inspection and management.

The K-eco has established a safety consortium among the K-eco (in charge), the safety advisory agency (implementing agency) and the small and medium-sized construction companies (participating agencies), in order to prevent safety-related accidents from occurring on construction sites and support more professional safety management.

The safety advisory agency regularly gives safety guidance and advice to small and medium-sized construction firms to raise their safety awareness and create a safe environment with technical support such as checking safety hazards, analyzing the causes and presenting improvement measures.

< Examples of Safety Management Guidance and Inspection >

Such preventive and repeated safety guidance and inspection prevented safety accidents by eliminating a total of 1,108 safety risk factors in advance, and further established a culture of safety-first by enhancing the level of safety management through increasing transparency in the field management of small and medium construction companies.

(Safety Patrol) The K-eco operates a “Senior Safe Patrol” system in which experienced professionals participate in safety inspections. Senior safety patrol conducted on-site random checks with new employees to raise workers’ awareness and also contributed to improving the professionalism of new employees.

"These agencies were able to improve unreasonable systems and practices from the perspective of the general public and prevent safety accidents by transparent disclosure of safety inspection sites, and safety begins with creating a society where all members of society can trust," said Lim Yoon Ju, director general of the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.