Gas Stations and Amusement Parks Also Punished for Serious Accidents (Comprehensive)

23 Business Sectors Including Movie Theaters and Karaoke Rooms
Road, Railroad, and Tunnel Regulations Over 10 Years

Jang Sang-yoon, Director of the Social Coordination Office at the Office for Government Policy Coordination, holds a preliminary briefing on the legislative notice of the Enforcement Decree of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 9th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] More than 150,000 establishments nationwide, including large gas stations, gas refilling stations, large-scale karaoke rooms, and restaurants, will be subject to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. Amusement parks like Everland will also be punished under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act if accidents occur. Although the government states that small self-employed businesses and small merchants will be excluded from the scope, opposition is expected mainly from owners of large business sites subject to punishment.

The government announced on the 9th that it will publicly notify the draft enforcement decree of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act by the 23rd of next month.

According to the draft enforcement decree, the scope of public facilities such as restaurants, railroads, and roads has been specified. Gas stations and gas refilling stations with a floor area of 2,000㎡ or more, amusement parks, road bridges and railroad bridges over 10 years old, road tunnels, and railroad tunnels have been added to the scope of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. Along with this, traditional markets with a total floor area of 5,000㎡ or more, and 23 types of business establishments such as rest area restaurants, movie theaters, and academies with a floor area of 1,000㎡ or more, as well as underground parking lots, will also be subject to the law. Among the 12,000 gas stations nationwide, about 650 (5%) have a floor area of 2,000㎡, and among approximately 177,000 multi-use business establishments nationwide, about 4,300 (2.4%) have a floor area of 1,000㎡ or more. A government official stated, "Among the public facilities used by people nationwide, 150,000 are subject to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act."

However, opposition is expected to be strong in industries such as large restaurants and karaoke rooms, as "the operator is the business owner." The Serious Accidents Punishment Act, scheduled to be enforced in January next year, specifies the business owner or management responsible person as the person responsible for securing safety and health.

24 Occupational Diseases Specified... Enforcement in January Next Year, Responsible Person Punished

By specifying the facilities subject to the law and 24 occupational diseases in the draft enforcement decree of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, it is expected that business owners or management responsible persons of the relevant workplaces will inevitably be punished if they violate the law from January next year. However, the severity of diseases (seriousness), which labor and management sectors demanded, as well as regulations on safety personnel and budgets for large restaurants and other establishments, are missing, so controversy over whether appropriate personnel and budgets were invested after the law’s enforcement is expected to continue.

The Serious Accidents Punishment Act is largely composed of serious industrial accidents related to the industrial sector and serious civic accidents applied to public facilities. Regarding serious industrial accidents, the management sector believes that risks have not been significantly resolved. They argue that not only the list of occupational diseases but also the severity should be considered, but the enforcement decree only defines "occupational diseases" as cases where three or more workers develop occupational diseases from the same cause within one year, and the sentencing based on severity is not reflected in the enforcement decree.

The labor sector believes that the issue of delivery workers’ death from overwork, which was the reason for creating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, is not included because cardiovascular and musculoskeletal diseases are not covered.

There is also controversy because the deployment of safety and health personnel and budgets are not specifically included in the draft enforcement decree. The draft only specifies the deployment of dedicated safety and health personnel for workplaces with 300 or more employees, while for civic accidents, it stipulates appropriate personnel deployment. Regarding safety budgets, it states, "Each workplace should allocate appropriately according to their situation." Ultimately, if questions arise after the law’s enforcement about whether safety obligations were faithfully fulfilled, endless disputes are likely.

Additionally, the labor sector insists that measures such as two-person teams, signalers, and workforce expansion to prevent death from overwork must be included, but these are not specified in the enforcement decree. A government official said, "If necessary, measures can be taken through budgets," effectively shifting responsibility to the industry.

No Exact Scope for Management Responsible Person... Government Says "Including It Would Be Excessively Rigid"

The management sector’s demand to precisely define the scope of the "management responsible person," who is subject to punishment, was not reflected in the enforcement decree. The "management responsible person" is defined as "a person who represents the business and has authority and responsibility for overall business management, or a person responsible for safety and health tasks equivalent to this." The management sector argues that the part before "or" refers to the corporate representative (CEO), and the latter part can be interpreted as the safety and health officer. In other words, they question whether the safety and health officer, delegated authority over safety and health budgets and personnel by the CEO, can be punished instead of the CEO. The government has stated that this is not a matter delegated by law to the enforcement decree and explained that this is why the content was not included in the enforcement decree.

An official from the Office for Government Policy Coordination said, "The phrase 'or equivalent to this' in the law essentially means the same responsible person as the one described before 'or,' who represents the business and has authority and responsibility for overall business management," adding, "If the law precisely specifies applicable ranks and duties, it could result in excessively rigid regulations."

Opposition from merchants such as karaoke room operators is also expected to grow. The public facilities included during the preparation of the enforcement decree draft exceed 150,000. Business establishments such as restaurants and movie theaters must separately allocate safety management budgets, and business owners must be punished if accidents occur.

Professor Yoon Dong-yeol of Konkuk University said, "It is problematic that the concept and scope of the management responsible person are not clearly defined, making it still difficult to specifically identify who the obligated party under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act is," emphasizing, "It is necessary to sufficiently gather opinions from labor and management and prepare comprehensive and detailed review plans before the law’s enforcement, and especially to present industry-specific guidelines after the law’s enactment."

The government is currently publicly notifying the draft enforcement decree until the 23rd of next month. However, it has also agreed to exchange opinions with labor and management before the law’s enforcement in January next year.

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