Euljiro Wi: "Business Community Should Put Aside Excessive Worries About the Serious Accident Punishment Act"

Jinseongjun Chairman's Statement "So far, SMEs have borne unilateral responsibility... Law passage strengthens large corporations' safety management responsibility"
"660 annual industrial accident deaths... Cost per worker death is only 8.69 million KRW"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] The Democratic Party's Euljiro Committee urged small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners to "put aside excessive concerns about the Serious Accidents Punishment Act."

Jin Seong-jun, head of the Democratic Party's Euljiro Committee, stated in a press release on the 6th, "Once this law is enacted, large corporations as prime contractors will strengthen their investment in safety, which will directly lead to the protection of personnel in SMEs and small business owners."

He explained, "Until now, when serious accidents occurred, subcontracted SMEs had to bear unilateral responsibility. However, this law imposes joint responsibility on both prime contractors and subcontractors, thereby strengthening the safety management responsibilities of large corporations."

He added, "This law will enhance the safety management accountability of large corporations as prime contractors, significantly reducing the accident rate in SMEs and serving as a preventive measure against accidents in small businesses. For small-scale workplaces, there is a provision that the law will be implemented on the premise of preparing preventive measures through support from the government and local governments. This will serve as a basis for the government and local authorities to support safety investments by small business owners and SMEs," he emphasized.

Regarding concerns raised by the SME and small business sectors about the punishment of business owners, he said, "The vast majority of good-faith SME managers and small business owners are not subject to this. Punishment is not imposed unless the business owner or management fails to take safety and health measures."

He continued, "When the Kim Yong-gyun Act (amendment to the Industrial Safety and Health Act) was passed, there were concerns that business owners would bear excessive responsibility for industrial accidents, but the results clearly showed through court rulings that the industry's claims were unfounded. In particular, an investigation of 178 first-instance Supreme Court rulings last year revealed that the liability cost paid by employers for the death of a single worker was only 8.69 million won."

He added, "Although one year has passed since the Kim Yong-gyun Act was implemented, as of September last year, the number of deaths from industrial accidents was 660, similar to the same period the previous year. We earnestly ask the business community to step back from outright opposition and participate in legislative discussions with the determination to innovate industrial sites to prevent safety accidents."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.