"Investigation Guidelines Must Be Distributed to Companies Before Enforcement of Serious Accident Punishment Act"

Policy Forum Hosted by Park Dae-su, People Power Party Lawmaker, on the 22nd

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Regarding the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, opinions have emerged that investigation guidelines should be distributed in advance for parts not delegated to the enforcement decree, such as provisions on the substantial control, operation, and management responsibilities of management officials.

On the 22nd, lawyer Choi Jin-won of the law firm Taepyungyang made this suggestion while participating in the policy forum titled "How to Settle the Serious Accidents Act" hosted by Park Dae-su, a member of the People Power Party, at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, Meeting Room 1. The forum was attended by Professor Lim Mu-song of Sogang University Graduate School of Economics, Professor Kwon Hyuk of Pusan National University Law School, Kang Geom-yung, Director of the Serious Industrial Accident Supervision Division at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Kim Kwang-il, Head of the Industrial Safety and Health Headquarters at the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, and Lim Woo-taek, Head of the Safety and Health Headquarters at the Korea Employers Federation.

Lawyer Choi diagnosed that it would be difficult to hold construction project owners and major shareholders of parent companies with subsidiaries accountable for the "substantial control, operation, and management responsibilities" stipulated by law. However, he advised that risk management is essential. He said, "To minimize legal risks, construction project ordering companies should not oversee and manage construction as a construction project owner under the Industrial Safety and Health Act, rather than as a contractor," and added, "(In the case of parent companies) the subsidiary's CEO should be granted independent final authority over personnel, budget, and organizational operations to fulfill the safety and health obligations as a management official with substantial authority and responsibility, and the parent company should refrain from interfering."

Lawyer Choi argued that if supplementary legislation on the management official's control, operation, and management responsibility provisions is not enacted, clear investigation guidelines should be presented to reduce confusion in the industrial field. He suggested, "If supplementary legislation is realistically difficult to achieve immediately, related agencies such as the Ministry of Employment and Labor, which will conduct actual investigations, should promptly create and distribute specific guidelines or investigation instructions for fulfilling legal obligations," and added, "Through this, companies need to have predictability and create conditions to faithfully fulfill safety and health obligations according to the guidelines."

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