Working environment and work conditions are important social determinants of health as they constitute the everyday milieu in which workers do their work. The extent to which workers are exposed to occupational risks—biological, chemical, and physical hazards, work hours and placement, and psychosocial factors—varies across different working environments, and what line of work one does affects to a significant extent one’s income, social network, and social prestige. The crisis that is covid-19 has shown us that the risks and pain people experience vary in degree depending on where they work and in what sector. The mass infections emerged from courier warehouses and delivery call centers and the deaths that occurred repeatedly among overworked delivery workers have plainly revealed that “social distancing” or “take rest if feeling unwell”, both regarded as rules to keep to in covid-19 situations, are just next to impossible to follow for some workers. Health inequalities are engendered not only by covid-19. Compared to most OECD countries, Korea has a higher occurrence of severe industrial accidents, not least among non-regular workers, subcontractor employees and small-business workers. It is unjustifiable to leave these health disparities unaddressed, as they can to a considerable extent be prevented and reduced by suitable policy interventions. Promoting health equity is one of the two main goals that Korea’s health policy pursues, the other being extending healthy life expectancy. However, improving health equity requires more than health policies. Things that determine access to resources with which to respond to exposure to health hazards are often social factors that go beyond the sphere of health policy. Labor is representative among such social determinants of health. In order to have the perspective of "worker health equity" absorbed into all labor policies, it is important to carry out a blanket monitoring of health inequalities among workers and to identify areas that need policy intervention. This study examines health inequality among workers in Korea and presents suggestions for policy intervention. The focus of this study is on how among workers the extent of exposure to health risks, the availability of resources with which to respond to health risks, and health outcomes vary depending on the type of their employment and the size of their employers.
