Government: Purpose of Serious Accident Punishment Act Enforcement Decree is to Prioritize 'Safety' in Management

Ministry of Employment Holds Public Hearing on Enforcement Decree of Serious Accident Punishment Act on 18-19
"Arbitrary Criminal Punishment" "Court to Judge Management Responsibility" Raised as Issues

Kwon Gi-seop, Director of the Occupational Safety and Health Headquarters at the Ministry of Employment and Labor. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government announced on the 18th that it will hold a forum on the Enforcement Decree of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act to hear opinions from stakeholders and experts. Concerns have been raised that confusion across the industry will intensify, as it is clear that determining who the management responsible will be will likely require court trials.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor will hold a forum on the draft Enforcement Decree of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act at Government Sejong Complex Building 11 from the 18th to the 19th. On the first day, the forum will discuss the "obligation of management responsible for safety and health management system measures," and on the second day, the "scope of occupational diseases."

Kwon Kisub, Director of the Occupational Safety and Health Headquarters, said, "The primary goal of the draft Enforcement Decree is to raise the priority of safety in corporate management," adding, "I hope the forum will serve as a place to narrow differences of opinion among stakeholders such as labor and management on some contentious issues."

At the forum, opinions were expressed that it remains unclear who the management responsible subject to punishment for violating the obligation of measures is. There is also a view that law enforcement agencies may arbitrarily impose criminal penalties.

Lee Siwon, a lawyer at Yulchon LLC, argued, "For example, if a company appoints a business division head as the management responsible and an accident occurs due to the fault of the on-site safety manager, if the investigative agency judges another CEO rather than the business division head as the management responsible, it will be difficult for the business division head to escape responsibility."

He suggested, "Ideally, the Ministry of Employment and Labor should present guidelines and obtain consent equivalent to an agreement from labor, management, and government to gain de facto normative power."

Lim Wootak, Director of the Korea Employers Federation, said, "The content of the obligation to establish a safety and health management system under the Enforcement Decree is unclear, so it is unknown to what level and scope the obligation must be fulfilled to be recognized as legal compliance," adding, "There are concerns that cases of criminal punishment based on arbitrary judgments by law enforcement agencies will occur."

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