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Commission's Major Activities
the death occurred while performing official duty, and not by the public official status criteria,
since line-of-duty deaths entail a sense of dignity and honor, and imply more than economic
compensation. Notably, the Commission saw that subparagraph 1, Paragraph 1, Article 3 of the
Public Officials Pension Act and subparagraph 4 of Article 2 of the Enforcement Decree of the
same Act provide enough grounds for recognizing line-of-duty death for short-term instructors
who died while performing their official service.
C. Policy recommendation to promote the rights of immigrant
construction workers
On 8 June, the Commission recommended the Minister of Employment and Labor to improve
the labor conditions of immigrant construction workers, as they are exposed to various human
rights infringements such as poor housing environment, unreasonable deduction of board and
lodging, long work hours with no days off, and frequent industrial accidents.
The Commission noted the high risk of industrial accidents faced by immigrant construction
workers based on data of the Ministry of Employment and Labor that showed that 45.5% of
88 immigrant workers who died in an industrial accident in 2016 were in construction. A 2015
Commission survey of human rights conditions of immigrant construction workers revealed
that 17.1% of all respondents (337 immigrant construction workers) were not aware of their
entitlement to treatment and compensation under the occupational health and safety insurance.
Of respondents who had ever been injured at a construction site, 67.9% had not received
insurance payments.
Life and safety is the most basic and important value of human rights. The International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights clearly states in Article 7 that it is every
worker’s right to work under “just and favourable conditions.” In view of protecting the body
and life of immigrant construction workers who are at a higher risk of death accidents, the
Commission recommended the Ministry of Employment and Labor to produce safety and
public health-related materials in several languages, and to provide more educational programs
to inform workers of what to do when they are involved in an industrial accident.