Councilor Sa Jeong-hee: "Protecting Workers is the Path to Improving Quality of Disability Welfare"

[News S=Reporter Cheon Ui-hyun] The safety and treatment issues of developmental disability welfare facility workers have reached the table of Suwon Metropolitan City Council.

The aim is to find institutional mechanisms for protecting workers who are injured by users' sudden behaviors but receive no protection, drawing from voices on the ground.

According to Suwon Metropolitan City Council on the 21st, Councilor Sa Jeong-hee (Democratic Party, Maetan 1·2·3·4) held a roundtable discussion on treatment improvement for developmental disability welfare facility workers at the council on the 21st.

Nine developmental disability welfare facility directors, Suwon City's Disability Welfare Division chief, and officials from the Disability Facility Support Team attended the roundtable.

Participants unanimously acknowledged that workers are frequently exposed to unexpected emergency situations in the process of providing services. There are cases where workers experience physical and mental difficulties due to challenging behaviors or verbal expressions that occur regardless of the user's intentions, and when treatment is needed, shortages of substitute staff and treatment costs become burdensome.

Participants agreed that such situations should not be viewed as the fault of specific users, but rather that institutional mechanisms are needed to protect workers and improve working conditions based on an understanding of the characteristics of developmental disabilities.

Councilor Sa stated, "The developmental disability welfare field is at the frontline of care and support, but there are aspects where the sacrifice and dedication of workers handling these roles are not sufficiently backed by institutional support. We will make active efforts at the council level to ensure that voices from the field are carefully examined and connected to effective policies and support measures."