(1) Reasons for Proposal

With an amendment to the Act on the Establishment of Safe Laboratory Environment (Act No. 17350; promulgated on June 9, 2020; to be enforced on December 10, 2020) to reinforce the researcher protection system, this Amendment aims to define matters delegated from the Act and other matters required for its implementation, including standards for personal protective equipment in labs, and improve and supplement some shortcomings observed in the operation of the current system by improving compensation limits so that researchers can be compensated properly if there is a lab accident. In addition, this Amendment also organizes referenced provisions and statutes as a follow-up for the whole amendment of the Act.

(2) Major Provisions

A. Define types of personal protective equipment depending on research activities and handling substances (chemicals, gases, living organisms, physical risk factors, etc.) to better protect researchers (Article 3 and attached Table 1)

B. Define the frequency of meetings to promote a laboratory safety management committee, an institute’s own safety management decision-making body (Article 4)

※ Hold a regular meeting at least once a year and a temporary meeting as necessary. 

C. Define training hours and details for technical staff in the safety inspection and in-depth safety inspection agency (Article 8 and attached Table 2)

D. Prepare detailed standards to conduct a temporary health examination (Article 11)

1) Specify a temporary health examination to be conducted on the persons engaged in research activities who need a health follow-up including those working with patients with symptoms.

2) Prepare methods to conduct a temporary health examination and exemption reasons and criteria.

E. Increase compensation limits for medical care benefits from “at least 50 million won” to “at least 100 million won” to minimize a medical bill burden for persons engaged in research activities and ensure proper compensation (Article 14)