The Ministry of Employment and Labor has announced plans to impose tougher penalties on companies that are involved in serious industrial accidents.

Vice Minister Kwon Chang-jun said Wednesday that proposed amendments to the Occupational Safety and Health Act would expand business suspension and bidding restrictions, currently limited to cases where two or more workers die on the job on the same occasion, to cases involving multiple worker deaths within a year.

POSCO E&C, where four workers died this year in separate accidents, avoided penalties under the current rules.

Authorities also plan to introduce provisions making it possible to cancel registration for companies with repeated fatal accidents, and to impose heavier fines and surcharges for recurrent safety violations.

Other measures include giving the labor minister the authority to order emergency work stoppages even in cases that do not meet the current definition of a serious accident, and requiring prime contractors to disclose safety records, including fatalities among subcontracted workers.

The ministry aims to finalize a comprehensive labor safety plan by next month after consulting with experts, labor representatives and management, and is also considering the creation of a permanent special committee on industrial safety.