Your right to safety training

Safety training is the employer's duty and your right. Training you cannot understand is not training.

Types of training

1. On hiring — before you start work
2. Regular training — periodically while employed
3. On change of task — when taking on a new machine or process
4. Special training — for dangerous work (heights, confined spaces, chemicals)
5. Supervisor training

Your rights

• To be trained in a way you can understand. You can ask for interpretation or materials in your language.
• To know the hazards and how to respond.
• To see the safety data sheets (MSDS). You have the right to know what chemicals you handle.
• Training time is working time and must be paid.

Steps

1. Check whether you actually received training. Signing without training is common.
2. If you didn't understand, ask again. "Please explain in my language."
3. Ask for the MSDS. Multilingual versions sometimes exist.
4. If refused, report it to 1350 or KOSHA 1544-3088.

What you need

• Training logs and signature records (photos)
• Names of substances used
• Your work schedule

Where to go

• 1544-3088 KOSHA · www.kosha.or.kr
• 1350 Ministry of Employment and Labor
• Your local support centre for foreign workers
• 1345 · 1577-1366 interpretation

Questions people ask

They just tell me to sign. Collecting signatures without training is illegal. Photograph it and tell 1350.

I can't follow Korean. KOSHA provides safety materials in foreign languages. Look on www.kosha.or.kr or ask the company.

They don't pay for training time. Training time is working time. Get advice from 1350.

What is an MSDS? A sheet listing a chemical's hazards and first aid. It must be kept at the workplace and you have the right to see it.

Take care

The most dangerous moment is the first time you handle an unfamiliar machine. If someone says "you'll figure it out", stop and ask for training. Accidents cluster in the first week and at night.

Related

protective-equipment · refuse-dangerous-work · workplace-injury-first-steps · occupational-disease

Source

KOSHA www.kosha.or.kr / As of 2026-08