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KMID : 0384919970060010023
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Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
1997 Volume.6 No. 1 p.23 ~ p.43
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A Study on the Clauses of the Work-Related Disease due to Overwork in the Workmen’s Compensation Law
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Kim Eun-Hee
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Abstract
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The work-related diseases due to continuous over-work are mainly cerebro- and cardio-vascular ones, which is commonly called ‘Karoshi’, death from overwork. Many factors are capable for Karoshi occupational stress in relation to technological reno-vation and industrial rationalization, competitive social structure, and accumulated fatigue accured to long time or irregular working. And its occurenee is on the rise. The World Labor Report 1993 releas~’d by I LO, pointed out the diseases related to overwork and stress as one of the most important occupational health problem. In Korea, social awareness of Karoshi is at an in-fant stage, and reliable statistics for its occurence are not compiled in a convenient manner. Despite the rising Karoshi, there are no reliable clauses in workmen’s compensation enough to settle down the
disputes. Therefore, it is not uncommon that the School of Pub1i~ Health, Seoul National University Labour Ministry and Civil Court find difficulties in reaching an agreement. This study was intended to provide proper compensation and prevention program for workers by suggesting reasonable com-pensation clauses for the death from overwork.
This study consists of I W() comparative reviews on the compensatort clauses for the death horn over-work. One is to review legal standards of Karoshi among three countries, such as Korea, Japan and Taiwan. The other io to inveatigote the caoeo of Karoshi in Korea, 121 cases identified at the Labor Welfare Corporation and the Labour Ministriai pro- cess of examination and reexarrunation, and 73 lead-ing cases at the High Court of justice.
The main findings of the study are as follows
1. Comparisons of comperative review on compen sation clauses for the death from overwork among three countries.
L All of three countiies have the same kinds of disease for compensation, which were cerebro-and cardrao-vascular diseases, while for cardiac disease group, Korea has the smaller number of diseases for compensation than Japan.
2) As for the definition of overwork, the three countries share equally that overload for one week prim to cuilapse i~ considered aa an im-portant factor, but accumulated chronic fatigue is disregarded,
3) As the basis of overwork, in Japan, there is a tendency to move from the conditions of an or- diniary healthy adult to those of the individual concerned in Japan, whereas there is no such concern yet in Korea.
4) All the three countries use a common startdaid of medical judgement in demonstrating causal relationship between a job and a disease. However, Korea is progressive in the sense that in the case of CVA at worksite, the worker him self has no obligation to prove the cause.
2. The results of a comparative review on excutive decisions by Labor Ministry and judicial decisions by the Court in Korea A judicial decision is based on the legalistic probability, but a excutive decision is not. Therefore, excutive decisions have such restrictions that
1) TIA(transitory ischemic cerebral attack) and myocarditis ate e ciuded from compcnsation. and there is little consistency of decision in the case of cause-unknown death.
2) There is a tendency not to compensate for the death from overwork since the work terms such as repeated long-time working, shift work or night-shift work are not considered as overloading.
3) There is a tendency to regard the conditions o~a ordinary healthy adult rather than those of the individual concerned(age, existing diseases, health state. etc.) as the comparative basis of overload.
4) There remains a tendency not to compensate for the death from overwork in the case of col- lapse occuring out of workplace, on the ground of on the course of working’ and ‘in the cause of aecident~.Through the study, the fact manifests itself that Korea’s compensation clauses for work-related diseases due to overwork are very restrictive. So, it is necessary to extend the Labor Ministry’s clauses of compensation for the death from overwork following to the recent changes of other countries and internal judicial decisions. This is very important in the perspective of occupdtional health that aims at health promotion of workers including prevention of the Karoshi,
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KEYWORD
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Clauses in Workmen’s Compensation for the Work-Related Diseases, Occupational Diseases, Work-Related Diseases, Karoshi : Death from Overwork
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