Laboratory safety accidents are rising every year, and 3 out of 4 labs that applied to the government for safety facility improvements did not receive budget support, data showed.

Data submitted by Lee Jeong-heon (이정헌), a lawmaker from the Democratic Party on the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, showed laboratory safety accidents rose 38.4 percent over three years to 454 cases in 2025 from 328 in 2022. The figures were 392 in 2023 and 398 in 2024. There were 227 accidents through June this year.

Accidents at corporate laboratories are also on the rise. They increased 60 percent to 120 cases last year from 75 in 2022. Over the same period, accidents in university laboratories rose 35.7 percent to 266 from 196.

Government support for safety facility improvements fell short of demand. Last year, 98 institutions and 1,030 laboratories applied for the Ministry of Science and ICT’s laboratory environment improvement support programme, but only 25 institutions and 248 laboratories were selected for support. A total of 782 laboratories, or 75.9 percent of applicants, did not receive support.

Applications from laboratories excluded from support included requests for facility improvements to prevent safety accidents such as chemical exposure and fires. Lee’s office said the ministry did not check whether the 782 laboratories that did not receive support later improved their facilities on their own.

The related budget also declined. The ministry’s budget for laboratory facility improvements fell 42.7 percent to 781 million won last year from 1.36 billion won in 2022. Facility improvements accounted for about 10 percent of the total laboratory safety programme budget of 7.83 billion won last year.

There was also a gap between the government’s performance indicators for laboratory safety management and the actual trend in accidents. The ministry’s "laboratory safety management implementation rate," used as a key performance indicator, was 88.8 percent last year, above the target of 88.5 percent. Performance achievement also came in at 100.3 percent. Laboratory accidents that year, however, totalled 454 cases, the highest in the past four years.

Lee said, "The government should not stop at meeting performance indicators but must focus on reducing actual accidents." He added, "It should conduct a full inspection of the 782 laboratories that were dropped from support and establish a management system that takes responsibility until risk factors are resolved, along with expanding the facility improvement budget."