KOSHA, HRD Korea to Provide VR Safety Training for Foreign Workers Before They Enter Korea

Virtual reality (VR) safety training will be introduced before foreign workers enter the country to help prevent workplace accidents. The initiative aims to reduce such accidents by allowing workers to experience hazardous situations and learn how to respond before being assigned to workplaces in Korea.

The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea announced on November 11 that they had signed an agreement at the agency's headquarters in Jung-gu, Ulsan Metropolitan City, to launch a VR-based occupational safety training program for foreign workers before they enter Korea.

Kim Hakjin (center left), director at the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, and Park Jeonguk (center right), director at the Human Resources Development Service of Korea, sign an MOU to promote safety training for foreign workers. Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency

The agreement follows a 2022 accord between the two agencies and the South Korean embassies in countries that send workers to Korea to prevent workplace accidents involving foreign workers. To turn that agreement into a concrete program, the parties established a framework for cooperation on providing and operating VR training equipment locally and assessing the effectiveness of the training.

The two agencies will conduct VR-based occupational safety training for foreign workers before they enter Korea over the next two years. To this end, they plan to provide and install VR training equipment locally and train instructors in how to use and manage the equipment. They will also assess the training's effectiveness after conducting a pilot program.

The pilot program will begin at the Employment Permit System (EPS) Center in Nepal. The two agencies plan to review the program's results and the effectiveness of the training, and explore ways to expand it to other countries that send foreign workers to Korea.

Kim Hakjin, head of the Education Coordination Office at the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, said, "If foreign workers can identify hazardous situations in advance and learn how to respond through virtual reality before entering Korea, this will help reduce workplace accidents after they are assigned to worksites." Park Jeonguk, director of the Foreign Workforce Bureau at the Human Resources Development Service of Korea, said, "Starting with the Nepal EPS Center, we will gradually expand local safety training infrastructure and help foreign workers begin work in safe conditions."

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