This study has attempted to investigate current asbestos laws in the amended Occupational Safety and Health Act on the removal and disposal of asbestos. Among 800 registered asbestos removal and disposal companies, 499 firms were investigated from August 7 to December 10, 2009. The qualified inspectors (those with Industrial Hygiene Engineer’s License or higher-level technical license) are educated for more than three hours before starting the inspection. In terms of regional distribution, Gyeonggi / Incheon was the highest with 105 companies(21%), followed by Daegu / Gyeongbuk(100, 20%), Chungbuk(97, 19.4%), Jeonbuk(37, 7.4%), Gwangju / Jeonnam (35, 7.0%) and Seoul(33, 6.6%). In terms of the number of education and technical assistances(1,348 in total) among 499 asbestos removal and disposal companies ,‘personal protective equipment and putting it on(287, 21.3%)’ was the highest, followed by ‘safety & health actions by asbestos removal and disposal work(171, 12.7%),’ ‘hazard of asbestos(168, 12.5%),’ ‘NO SMOKING and NO FOOD(164, 12.2%)’ and ‘prevention of asbestos fibers from being airborne(12, 0.9%).’A questionnaire consisted of 11 questions regarding the obse tance of enforcement ordinances associated with the removal and disposal of asbestos. According to an investigation on the current status of the workplace based on inspectors’ checklists, 3 scores were maintained in average. This paper has limitations because it has failed to randomly investigate the workplace because it is very strict to visit the asbestos removal and disposal sites.

This paper has attempted to analyze asbestos dismantlement and removal companies' licensing procedure and their work satisfaction and observance of laws and regulations and discover problems for improvement of the current system. In terms of the number of asbestos dismantlement and removal companies by region, Seoul and Gyeonggi (32, 43.2%) were the highest, followed by Jeonnam, Jeonbuk and Jeju (19, 25.7%), Gyeongnam and Gyeongbuk / Chungnam and Chungbuk (8 apiece, 10.8%) and Gangwon (7, 9.5%). In terms of the number of asbestos dismantlement and removal works, it has rapidly increased from 33 cases (1.4%) in 2005 to 598 (25.1%) in 2007 and 1,599 (67.2%) in 2008. In terms of preliminary investigation on asbestos, asbestos-related education and work environment by region, a significant statistical difference has been observed. According to analysis on the asbestos dismantlement and removal companies' satisfaction (in terms of the appropriateness of dismantlement and removal cost), 'unsatisfied (35 companies, 47.3%)' was the highest, followed by 'not bad (20, 27.0%)' and 'satisfied (19, 25.7%),' showing high dissatisfaction on the cost. In terms of the asbestos dismantlement and removal companies' satisfaction at work, Factor 1 accounted for 39.3% while Factor 2 was 16.8%, which showed 56.2% in total.