The ruling Democratic Party (DP) has decided to consult with rival parties to establish a new government organization dedicated to promoting occupational safety and better preventing industrial disasters, the party's chief said Monday.

In a party leadership meeting, DP Chairman Rep. Lee Nak-yon said that the DP will draft a revised Government Organization Act and submit it to the National Assembly to launch the new agency after consulting with opposition parties.

According to Lee, the DP and the government have agreed to boost the role and responsibility of the labor ministry's industrial accident prevention bureau until the envisioned state agency is launched.

"We will work hard to help the upcoming organization contribute to providing safe workplaces for workers," Lee said, adding that the government soon plans to revise related ordinances to form the new agency.

The plan comes amid growing public calls to strengthen workplace safety supervision, as well as punishments of managers in cases of serious accidents, amid a series of high profile death cases linked to onsite mismanagement.

The National Assembly passed a bill earlier this month that strengthens the punishment of business owners and CEOs of companies with five or more employees in the event of serious workplace disasters.

Under the new legislation, business owners or CEOs could face a minimum one-year prison sentence or up to 1 billion won ($915,080) in fines in the event of deadly on-duty disasters caused by lax workplace safety measures.

The law will go into force one year after its promulgation. (Yonhap)