Salt Farms: Five Major Insurance Enrollment Rate at Only 8%... "Working Conditions Very Vulnerable"

Survey Results on Safety and Health Conditions at Aquaculture Farms and Salt Farms
Salt Farms Record Lowest Safety and Health Scores

The working conditions in salt farms have been found to be generally very vulnerable. In the case of salt farms, the subscription rate for the five major types of insurance—industrial accident, fire, injury, employment, and fisheries safety insurance—stood at only 8%, significantly below the overall average of 44%.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Ministry of Employment and Labor, alongside seven other relevant organizations including local governments, announced these results following an investigation into the safety and health working environments of 250 aquaculture farms and salt farms nationwide, conducted from March to July this year.

The Asia Business Daily DB

The survey was conducted using a checklist developed based on the Rules on Industrial Safety and Health Standards prescribed by the Industrial Safety and Health Act, and the Fisheries Safety Accident Prevention Manual. Quantitative evaluations covered business owners and workers, workplaces, and equipment, while qualitative assessments were carried out for eight major categories, including hazardous and dangerous factors.

According to the findings, the average number of workers per site among the 250 surveyed workplaces (a total of 2,791 workers) was 11. Of these, 17% were foreign nationals, 55% were male, 52% were classified as aged workers, and 30% were self-employed. The average subscription rate for the five major insurance types was 44%, and 70% of businesses had annual sales of more than 100 million won. In contrast, salt farms showed a self-employment ratio of 68.5%, a five-insurance subscription rate of 8.0%, and only 2.0% had annual sales exceeding 100 million won, demonstrating a significant gap compared to the average workplace.

The quantitative investigation was conducted based on 76 questions covering business owners and workers, workplaces, and equipment. The average safety and health score in fisheries was 1.97 points (on a 5-point scale), indicating very vulnerable conditions. By sector, coastal aquaculture scored 2.04, inland water aquaculture scored 1.96, and salt farms scored 1.88, with salt farms recording the lowest score.

Qualitative assessments identified inadequate risk assessments, insufficient posting of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), and absence of safety signage as common vulnerabilities. For each type of workplace, coastal aquaculture sites were found to be susceptible to marine falls and handling heavy objects, while inland aquaculture sites had insufficient safety covers on mixers, risks of asphyxiation, and inadequate electrical equipment grounding. Notably, salt farms were found to face major risk factors such as intense heat, tripping hazards at waterways and embankments, and the confinement risks of brine storage tanks.

Choi Hyunho, policy chief at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, stated, "This status survey confirmed that the working conditions at aquaculture farms and salt farms are generally very vulnerable. We will closely analyze the results of this joint survey with relevant ministries to review the overall safety and health management system in the fisheries sector and develop improvement measures. As a dedicated department, the Fisheries Safety Planning Division has been newly established to focus on improving the labor environment for fisheries workers—including safety, health, employment, and labor issues—and we will continue to systematically enhance the working conditions for workers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.