Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance (IACI) has a history of about 50 yr, and is the oldest social insurance system in Korea. After more than 20 times of revision improvements in benefits, its contents and claim systems have been upgraded. It became the protector of injured workers and their families, and at the same time became the system which could cope with both financial burden of employers and their responsibilities. However, there are some issues to be reformed to upgrade the IACI: 1) the problems in the approval system of occupational diseases, 2) quality improvement of workers' compensation medical care, 3) vocational rehabilitation and return to work, 4) workers' compensation premiums and out-of-pocket money of injured workers, 5) issues in application of IACI. Growth of IACI cannot be achieved by an effort of an individual. Efforts by workers, owners, and government, in addition to physicians and welfare professionals toward the same goal are required for the next level improvement of IACI.
Humans ; Industry/economics ; Insurance, Accident/*economics ; Occupational Diseases/economics ; Rehabilitation, Vocational/economics ; Workers' Compensation/*economics

In the Workers' Compensation Insurance (WCI) system in Korea, occupational diseases (ODs) are approved through deliberation meetings of the Committee on Occupational Disease Judgment (CODJ) after disease investigations when workers or medical institutions requested the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service (COMWEL) for medical care benefits. Insufficient data presented by employers or workers or lack of objective evidence may increase the possibility of disapproval. The expertise of accident investigation staff members should be reinforced and employers' and related institutions' obligations to cooperate and submit data should be specified under the law. The deliberation meetings of the CODJ are held separately for musculoskeletal, cerebro-cardiovascular, and medical diseases, and the judgments of ODs are made by the chairperson of COMWEL and six committee members by majority vote by issue. To reinforce the expertise of the members of the CODJ, periodic education and a system to accredit the committee members after appropriate education should be introduced. To fairly and quickly compensate for diseases that occur in workers, the criteria for the recognition of occupational diseases should be continuously amended and the systems for disease investigations and judgments should be continuously improved.
Accidents, Occupational/*economics ; Humans ; Insurance, Accident/economics ; Insurance, Health/economics ; Occupational Diseases/*economics ; Organization and Administration ; Republic of Korea ; Workers' Compensation/*economics

The Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (IACIA) regulates the workers' compensation insurance system and the standards for the recognition of occupational diseases (ODs). Since its establishment in 1994, the IACIA has been amended several times. Before 2008, the approval of compensation for work-related musculoskeletal diseases (WMSDs) was decided based on the recommendation of consultants of the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service (COMWEL). The IACIA was amended in 2008, and since then, the approval of compensation for occupational injuries has been decided based on the recommendation of COMWEL consultants, whereas the approval of compensation for ODs was decided based on the judgment of Committee on Occupational Diseases Judgment (CODJ) which was established in 2008. According to the 2013 amendment to the IACIA, degenerative musculoskeletal diseases among workers engaged in musculoskeletal-burdening work should be considered compensable ODs. Despite some commendable changes to the workers' compensation insurance system, other significant issues persist. To resolve these issues, related organizations including the associations of orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, and occupational and environmental medicine; Ministry of Employment and Labor; and COMWEL need to work cooperatively.
Accidents, Occupational/*economics ; Humans ; Insurance, Accident/economics ; Insurance, Health/economics/standards ; Musculoskeletal Diseases/*economics ; Occupational Diseases/*economics ; Occupational Injuries/*economics ; Republic of Korea ; Workers' Compensation/*economics/standards

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.
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

The range of diseases covered by workers' compensation is constantly expanding. However, new regulations are required for the recognition of occupational diseases (ODs) because OD types evolve with changes in industrial structures and working conditions. OD criteria are usually based on medical relevance, but they vary depending on the social security system and laws of each country. In addition, the proposed range and extent of work-relatedness vary depending on the socio-economic conditions of each country. The Labor Standards Act (LSA) and the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (IACIA) of Korea employ lists based on their requirements without listing causes and diseases separately. Despite a considerable reshuffle in 2003, the basic framework has been maintained for 50 yr, and many cases do not fit into the international disease classification system. Since July 1, 2013, Korea has expanded the range of occupational accidents to include occupational cancers and has implemented revised LSA and IACIA enforcement decrees. There have been improvements to OD recognition standards with the inclusion of additional or modified criteria, a revised and improved classification scheme for risk factors and ODs, and so on.
Accidents, Occupational/*classification/*economics ; Humans ; Insurance, Accident/economics ; Insurance, Health/economics ; Neoplasms/chemically induced ; Occupational Diseases/*classification/*economics/mortality ; Occupational Exposure/adverse effects ; Occupational Health ; Republic of Korea ; Risk Factors ; Workers' Compensation/*economics/legislation & jurisprudence/standards