Told to Keep Working Despite Doctor's Warning... Night Shift Workers Left Vulnerable

[Anchor]

Night work is so detrimental to health that the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies it as a carcinogen. Although the law requires night shift workers to undergo special health checkups, many workplaces still fail to conduct them altogether or take appropriate follow-up measures after the screenings.

Reporter Jeon Hyeong-u has this exclusive report.

[Reporter]

Six years ago, the late Jang Deok-jun, who worked night shifts for one year and four months at a Coupang logistics center, passed away at his home after getting off work at 4 a.m.

Before his death, Jang never once received the special health checkup mandated for anyone performing night work for six months or longer.

[Park Mi-sook / Mother of the late Jang Deok-jun: The doctor first said, 'If he had just received this health checkup, he wouldn't have died like this.' That made us even more angry.]

According to a 2020 investigation by the Regional Employment and Labor Administration, Coupang failed to conduct special health checkups for 167 night shift workers at the logistics center, including Jang.

Although labor inspections were carried out at Coupang, the penalty for failing to conduct the special health checkups amounted to a mere 10 million won in fines.

From 2020 through August of this year, some 3,200 workplaces were caught failing to conduct special health checkups.

However, the total fines amounted to approximately 3.6 billion won, averaging about 1.1 million won per workplace.

Follow-up measures were also inadequate even at workplaces that did conduct special health checkups.

While the number of night shift workers who underwent special health checkups increased by 26 percent from 1.01 million in 2016 to 1.28 million in 2024, workers showing signs of illness surged 2.4-fold from 120,000 to around 300,000.

However, 92 percent of workers diagnosed with illnesses simply continued night shifts while receiving treatment, and a mere 0.3 percent were reassigned to day shifts or had their working hours reduced.

In particular, 72 percent of workers in the highest-risk category—whom doctors judged should not perform current tasks due to concerns over worsening health or permanent disability—were still performing night work.

[Lee Yong-woo / Member of the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee (Democratic Party of Korea): Doctors are also recommending temporary or permanent suspension of work, but employers are driving workers into danger by telling them to 'receive treatment while working.']

Furthermore, among 140 workplaces that failed to implement post-checkup measures, only 9 were criminally indicted, prompting calls for supplementary measures.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Camera Reporter: Lim Woo-sik, Video Editor: Kim Jong-mi, Designer: Kim Han-gil, Data provided by the office of lawmaker Lee Yong-woo)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.