The Korea Safe Care Association is moving to establish new safety standards in care settings. Its goal is to make a care model that protects both care workers and seniors safe for adoption in Korea.
The association was officially launched after its founding general meeting on July 4 at Daegyo Tower in Gwanak District, Seoul. The event was attended by long-term care institutions, welfare equipment companies, medical and public health experts, academics, and representatives from artificial intelligence technology firms. Professor Ahn Chang-sik of the Department of Physical Therapy at Eulji University was elected as the first chairman.
The association’s core initiative is “No Lifting Care.” It refers to a care method that helps seniors move by using assistive devices such as lifts and sliding boards. The aim is not to reduce the amount of care, but to shift the moving process away from human strength and onto equipment and standardized procedures.
The approach is seen as producing benefits on both sides. It can reduce musculoskeletal strain on care workers while also lowering the risk of falls and skin injuries for seniors during transfers.
◆ Musculoskeletal disorders lead to workforce turnover
There are 654,034 care workers in Korea. They make up the majority of the 726,809 long-term care workers as of the end of December 2025. The number of care institutions stands at 29,734.
Demand continues to rise. The number of people recognized under long-term care insurance reached 1.235 million in 2025, up 6.0% from the previous year. The insured population aged 65 and older has surpassed 11 million.
In practice, much of the mobility assistance depends on workers’ physical strength. Typical tasks include moving patients in bed, changing their position, and assisting with bathing. In facilities with a high proportion of severe recipients, these tasks can be repeated dozens of times a day.
A survey by the Health Insurance Research Institute under the National Health Insurance Service found that 15.9% of care workers had experienced musculoskeletal disorders. The injuries are said to be concentrated in the lower back and shoulders.
The workforce is also aging. The average age of certified care workers is over 58, and the average age of actively registered workers exceeds 61. In other words, older workers are caring for older adults.
A labor shortage is already expected. By 2028, the sector is projected to face a shortfall of about 120,000 workers out of the 800,000 needed. Turnover due to industrial injuries is cited as a factor accelerating that gap.
The government has revised staffing standards. Starting in January 2025, the staffing ratio for care workers in elderly nursing facilities was tightened from one worker per 2.3 residents to one per 2.1 residents. However, some argue that expanding the workforce alone cannot keep pace with the speed of aging.
◆ Australia, Japan, and Germany institutionalized the approach through guidelines and funding
Australia set out the principle in 1998. The Victorian branch of the Australian Nursing Federation began a no-lift policy of “do not push, do not pull, do not lift.” After its introduction, industrial injury claim costs fell by nearly half within three years. Injuries to staff during transfers also declined sharply.
Japan combined equipment deployment with guideline revisions. When long-term care insurance was introduced in 2000, care lifts, electric beds, and automatic position-changing devices were widely used in facilities. In 2008, the No-Lift Association began its activities. In 2013, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare revised its guideline for low back pain prevention, formally establishing the principle of not lifting people by hand.
Germany incorporated financial support into the system. Under the Care Workforce Enhancement Act, up to 12,000 euros per facility will be provided through 2030 to nursing and home-care facilities for digitalization and equipment purchases. Home-care recipients can separately receive up to 4,000 euros for home modifications.
The common thread in these three countries is how the measures were linked together. They went beyond education and combined equipment, financing, and guidelines. The factor that changed workplace practices was policy, according to assessments.
◆ Welfare equipment benefits and reimbursement structure remain a variable for expansion
The biggest obstacle to expansion in Korea is the benefit structure. Welfare equipment benefits are designed mainly for home-based recipients. The annual limit is 1.6 million won. Once a person enters a nursing facility, purchases and rentals of welfare equipment are blocked.
If a facility wants to install a lift, it must cover costs amounting to several million won from its own budget. The burden is especially heavy for smaller institutions. Critics say this is because long-term care reimbursement is designed around labor costs, leaving virtually no category that compensates for equipment investment.
One proposed solution is to reform the benefit structure. This would mean including equipment adoption by institutional care facilities in reimbursement items or separate support programs. A system that adds payments for institutions meeting safety standards is also being discussed.
The home-care environment is even more challenging. In many cases, visiting care workers work alone. Some homes are also structurally unsuitable for lift installation. That is one reason Germany separately supports home modification costs. Analysts say equipment deployment must be designed together with improvements to the living environment.
The association’s five major tasks also target the same issue: developing and spreading a No Lifting Care curriculum nationwide, creating guidelines to prevent musculoskeletal disorders among care workers, introducing a safety certification system for welfare equipment, providing customized consulting for long-term care institutions, and conducting research on integrated care policy.
The success of the certification system will depend on how it is connected, observers say. If certification is not tied to institutional evaluations or reimbursement, its effectiveness will be limited. Training, too, must be incorporated into qualification courses and continuing education to remain in the field, according to analysis.
Chairman Ahn Chang-sik said, “An environment where workers can work safely is the same as an environment where seniors can receive care safely,” adding, “We will establish a culture of safe care through field-oriented education, research, and policy proposals.”
Technology is also part of the effort. AI and digital transformation company SpaceBank participated as a founding member at the inaugural meeting. The safety care solution it provides operates without video recording. It uses mmWave radar sensors to detect movement, breathing, and heart rate.
Because it uses radio waves instead of cameras, it does not collect or store personal information. The system is currently installed and operating at Uiwang Municipal Nursing Home and Incheon Second Municipal Dementia Nursing Hospital for the Elderly. It is designed to monitor residents’ conditions in real time while protecting their privacy.
Sensor data is collected on an integrated monitoring platform. An AI analyzes lifestyle patterns, activity levels, sleep status, and abnormal behavior. The system is used to reduce the burden of nighttime rounds and identify signs of falls in advance. The approach shifts the focus from responding after an accident to detecting risk beforehand.
SpaceBank CEO Lee Won-hee said, “In an ultra-aged society, building a safe care environment requires the experience on the ground and AI technology to develop together.”
Sensors and assistive devices serve different functions. Sensors detect danger, while assistive devices reduce the risk factors themselves. The view is that only when the two are combined can the burden on the field be meaningfully reduced.
The association plans to apply for approval to establish a nonprofit corporation with the Ministry of Health and Welfare in the second half of this year and begin operating a formal office. Next year, it intends to set up regional branches nationwide and run a training program for safe-care specialists.
With the association’s launch, the discussion on safe care has moved beyond individual institutions. Whether it remains limited to education and certification or leads to changes in benefits and reimbursement structures will depend on policy responses.