J Korean Med Sci.  2014 Jun;29(Suppl):S24-S31. 10.3346/jkms.2014.29.S.S24.

Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases in Special Populations: Farmers and Soldiers

• Kwon YJ
• Lee SJ

• KMID: 1791996
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2014.29.S.S24

Abstract

Some types of workers such as farmers and soldiers are at a higher risk of work-related injury and illness than workers from other occupations. Despite this fact, they are not covered under the Industrial Safety Health (ISH) Act or the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance (IACI) Act. The Safety Aid System for Farmers (SASF) is a voluntary insurance scheme, and it is the only public compensation plan for self-employed farmers. Fifty percent of SASF premiums are subsidized by the Korean government. Soldiers are compensated by the Veterans' Pension (VP) Act. The approval standard of and procedure for the VP Act are provided in the Decree of VP Act, and the Council for VP Benefits determines work-relatedness in the claimed cases. Meanwhile, SASF applies the insurance clause automatically without any expert advice or additional procedures. Furthermore, compared with IACI, these programs pay fewer benefits to workers. Thus, a stronger institutional strategy is needed to maintain a safe work environment, to protect workers' health in unavoidably hazardous environments, and to compensate for work-related injuries and diseases.

Keyword

Compensation; Occupational Diseases; Farmers; Soldiers

MeSH Terms

Accidents, Occupational/economics
*Agriculture
Female
Humans
Insurance, Accident/economics
Insurance, Health/economics
Male
*Military Personnel
Occupational Diseases/*economics/mortality
Occupational Health/economics
Occupational Injuries/classification/*economics/mortality
Republic of Korea
Risk
Workers' Compensation/*economics/standards

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Incidence rate for industrial accidents in leading industries in 2011. Data from Ministry of Employment and Labor 2011 Annual Report on Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance (Reference: 1).

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