[Serious Accident Punishment Act D-31] "Failing to catch industrial accidents but targeting CEOs... Ignoring correction orders on site leads to nothing"

Report / Seongnam City Officetel New Construction Site

Last Site Inspection Day Before Law Enforcement
Employment Minister Ahn Kyung-duk Personally Oversees
"Emphasizes Safety Platforms and Load Management"

Despite Thorough Inspections, Industrial Accident Deaths Persist
Fundamental Issues Remain Due to Difficulty Eliminating Subcontractor Site Hazards
Site Expresses Concerns Over "Figurehead Boss" Tactics

On the 22nd, labor inspectors and related personnel are seen inspecting facilities at the 12th site inspection day conducted at a newly constructed officetel construction site in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do. (Photo by Moon Chae-seok)

[Seongnam=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok]

"Currently, the overall building progress rate is 65%, and it seems that the very dangerous construction work has been completed. However, the external scaffolding (temporary structures for high-altitude work) where workers are laying bricks lacks safety railings, and this must be thoroughly addressed."

On the afternoon of the 22nd at 3:30 PM, An Kyung-duk, Minister of Employment and Labor, visited a new officetel construction site in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, to conduct a comprehensive inspection and ordered the site officials to rectify deficiencies. This was the final on-site inspection conducted a month before the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. The project, with a total construction cost exceeding 5 billion KRW, falls under the scope of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act effective from January 27 next year. Accompanying Minister An were Lee Jeong-yeol, Director of Construction Accident Supervision at the Seongnam Employment and Labor Office, and Park Mi-sa, Team Leader of Construction Accident Supervision (Labor Inspector and Special Judicial Police Officer). They meticulously examined various parts of the site, which consists of four basement floors and six above-ground floors.

Director Lee and Team Leader Park evaluated the site as "relatively well managed" but notified the site manager of two corrective demands: ▲ installation of safety railings on external scaffolding and ▲ organization of heavy materials stacked at high places. Director Lee emphasized to the site manager, "Please take corrective action within two weeks after today and send proof documents," adding, "If violations are found after January 27 next year, it will be subject to penalties under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, including those for top executives such as the CEO." According to the Industrial Safety and Health Act, workplaces must submit a report on corrective actions within two weeks after a labor inspector requests corrections. Minister An also urged workers to proceed slowly with concrete curing work (protecting and managing concrete until it hardens using heaters, etc.) due to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and death from using anthracite or charcoal during the process. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, among 25 construction industry suffocation accidents during winter over the past 10 years (2011?2020), 17 cases (68%) occurred during concrete curing work.

Even in workplaces where labor inspectors have evaluated "preparations are well made," the fact that they can still identify risk factors requiring correction ironically leads to debates about the effectiveness of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. The purpose of enforcing this Act is to verify whether violations at the site occur due to deficiencies in the safety and health management system. According to the law, if a business owner or management responsible for a workplace is found not to have established a system for accident prevention personnel and budget, they may face imprisonment of up to seven years or fines up to 100 million KRW. The government believes that by imposing penalties on CEOs, it will be possible to significantly reduce risk factors and industrial accident fatalities that are difficult to improve through labor inspections alone.

On the other hand, the industry questions whether enforcing the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, following the amended Industrial Safety and Health Act, and adding CEO penalty provisions can effectively reduce risk factors and industrial accident fatalities at subcontractor sites nationwide. The comprehensive amendment to the Industrial Safety and Health Act, which came into effect on January 16 last year, already includes corporate safety and health management obligations such as establishing safety and health plans by CEOs, fulfilling obligations of construction project owners, prior approval for subcontracting, and selecting qualified contractors. Despite strengthened labor inspections, industrial accident fatalities have not decreased. Ultimately, even with the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, the current system under the Industrial Safety and Health Act?'labor inspection → identification of risk factors → correction demand → submission of correction report within two weeks'?will not change. If labor inspectors fail to recognize repeated risk factors after correction reports are submitted, industrial accident fatalities may still occur, indicating a fundamental problem that is likely to persist. In fact, the government has set a target to reduce industrial accident fatalities by 100 annually next year (achieving the low 700s), which is a smaller reduction compared to this year's target of a 20% decrease from 882 in the previous year (achieving below 705).

There are concerns that attempting to solve unresolved issues from intensive labor inspections under the current Industrial Safety and Health Act system through the Serious Accidents Punishment Act may cause side effects such as difficulties in securing safety management personnel, restrictions on hiring workers suffering from 24 occupational diseases specified in the enforcement decree, and increased legal risks and costs for CEOs. A worker met at the inspection site said, "With the introduction of the 52-hour workweek and reduced legal working hours, safety management costs are increasing while construction deadlines demanded by project owners must still be met, creating a difficult situation." The worker added, "Construction companies might switch to a representative system with each having their own CEO, appointing 'salaryman figurehead CEOs' as a loophole, and there could be a shortage of safety managers."

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