Passage of the Industrial Safety and Health Act Amendment Imminent Following the Serious Accidents Punishment Act

Mandatory Deployment of Dedicated Safety Personnel
500 Million KRW Fine Imposed for Violations
Business Community Opposes Citing Side Effect Concerns

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Following the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, the amendment to the Industrial Safety and Health Act (San-an Act), which strengthens the safety management responsibilities of business owners, is about to pass the National Assembly. It includes provisions requiring the mandatory appointment of personnel dedicated solely to safety and imposing fines of up to 5 million won for violations. The business community, which has been demanding amendments due to concerns about the side effects of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, is expected to strongly oppose this bill as well.

According to the National Assembly on the 19th, the Environment and Labor Committee (Hwan-no-wi) merged the San-an Act amendment bills and the government proposal, which were respectively proposed by Democratic Party whips Assemblymen Ahn Ho-young, Choi Jong-yoon, and Noh Woong-rae, and People Power Party whip Assemblyman Im E-ja, into a single committee alternative and passed it last month. Although it is pending review by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the plenary session, committee alternatives that merge bills from ruling and opposition party lawmakers generally have a high likelihood of passing as originally proposed.

The amendment mandates business owners of workplaces above a certain scale to appoint safety managers and health managers dedicated solely to those duties, with fines of up to 5 million won imposed for violations. The scale of the target workplaces will be determined by presidential decree. Additionally, construction project owners must have safety and health experts verify the appropriateness of the contents recorded in the safety and health ledger, and designers and the first contractors must be allowed to perform design and construction work considering site safety by setting appropriate costs and periods. When contractors and subcontractors work together and there is a risk of hazards such as fire or explosion, the principal contractor is required to adjust the timing and content of the work, with specific roles clearly defined. The fine for failing to submit a hazardousness and risk investigation report on new chemical substances will be increased from the current 3 million won to 5 million won. Local governments are also tasked with implementing measures to prevent industrial accidents. The amendment establishes a basis for local government heads to take necessary actions such as workplace guidance to create a safe working environment within their jurisdiction.

The Serious Accidents Punishment Act, passed by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee earlier this year, is separate from the Environment and Labor Committee’s efforts to raise safety standards through the San-an Act amendment. The Serious Accidents Punishment Act stipulates that if a ‘serious industrial accident’ causing one or more deaths occurs due to a business owner or management official violating safety and health obligations, they shall be punished by imprisonment of one year or more or a fine of up to 1 billion won. For injuries and illnesses, business owners or management officials may face imprisonment of up to seven years or fines of up to 100 million won.

Seven economic organizations, including the Korea Employers Federation (KEF), submitted a revision proposal to the National Assembly last month, stating that "there are still many problems such as unclear obligations for management officials and excessive penalties," and requested changes such as revising the death criteria to ‘two or more deaths or two or more deaths occurring within one year.’

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