Issue 29. Protection of unborn babies from health damage due to pregnant
workers' occupational accident
103. According to the Survey on Human Rights Situations of Workers Handling Reproductive
Toxicants conducted by the NHRCK in 2016, the workers had a poor awareness that reproductive
toxicants (which have a harmful effect on humans' reproductive functions and capabilities and the
development and growth of unborn babies and include both harmful material factors, like chemical
substances, and harmful physical factors, like shift work, nighttime work and standing work) from
their work may cause miscarriage, preterm birth, stillbirth or the birth of a baby with innate
malformation, and the parents with a child who has an innate disability or disease due to the parent's
occupational reason had difficulty in getting a compensation under the Industrial Accident
Compensation Insurance Act for the child's medical cost.
104. The Labor Standards Act prohibits a pregnant worker's nighttime work, in principle, but
allows a pregnant worker to do nighttime or holiday work with the Minister of Employment and
Labor's approval so long as the pregnant worker agrees to do such work. In this context,
considerations are hardly made about a pregnant worker's length of pregnancy and presumed date
of childbirth and the reproductive toxicants that nighttime work may cause to the pregnant worker.
According to the Current Status Survey on Human Rights, including Maternity Protection, of
Female Workers in Health and Medical Care Sector conducted by the NHRCK in 2015, 38.4% of
the nurses and nursing assistants who responded to the survey and 76.4% of the female doctors
who responded to the survey said that they had ever done nighttime work during their pregnancy;
and 59.8% of the nurses and nursing assistants and 76.7% of the female doctors were not willing to
do nighttime work. In case there are not enough workers or the considerations about pregnant
workers are not fully made, pregnant workers may have no choice but to give their consent to
nighttime work although they don't want to work at night and, in this case, the possibility of health
damage to unborn babies can hardly be ruled out.
105. In response, the NHRCK recommended, in July 2018, the Minister of Employment
and Labor to revise the relevant legislation to prohibit pregnant workers' involuntary nighttime
work and additionally recognize, as occupational accidents, health damages done to unborn
babies due to their exposure to the factors harmful to reproductive health, in order to protect
pregnant workers and their unborn children from the factors harmful to reproductive health.
106. In the meantime, some nurses in the Jeju Medical Center gave birth to a child with an
innate heart disorder after handling, directly or indirectly, the harmful medical substances
which have an adverse effect on unborn babies' health during their pregnancy in 2009~2010.
The nurses claimed medical treatment benefits from the Korea Workers' Compensation &
Welfare Center but their claims were turned down. Then, in 2014, they filed a lawsuit to seek
the cancellation of the Center's refusal to pay medical treatment benefits.
107. In regard of the aforementioned lawsuit, in 2019, the NHRCK submitted, to the
Supreme Court, its opinions that: it is desirable to recognize, as occupational diseases, the
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