1 in 2 Small and Medium Manufacturing Companies with Over 50 Employees Say "Difficult to Comply with Serious Accident Punishment Act"

Serious Accident Punishment Act to Take Effect Early Next Year... 60% of Companies with 50-99 Employees Unprepared
"New Exemption Provisions Needed... Urgent Minimum Legislative Supplement Required"

A small and medium-sized manufacturing factory located in Gimpo, Gyeonggi.
Photo by Lee Jun-hyung

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] Among small and medium-sized manufacturing companies with 50 or more employees, one in two (53.7%) have not prepared for the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which will be fully enforced starting from the 27th of next month.

The Korea Federation of SMEs announced on the 27th that a survey titled "Preparation Status for the Serious Accidents Punishment Act in Small and Medium Manufacturing Enterprises" was conducted from the 7th to the 14th of this month targeting 322 small and medium manufacturing companies with 50 or more employees. This survey was conducted to understand the response status of small and medium manufacturing companies with 50 or more employees, who must comply with the law immediately, one month before the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.

According to the survey, 53.7% of small and medium manufacturing companies with 50 or more employees responded that it is impossible to comply with the mandatory requirements by the enforcement date of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. In particular, among companies with 50 to 99 employees, 6 out of 10 (60.7%) answered that compliance is impossible.

The main reason cited for the difficulty in complying with the obligations by the enforcement date was "difficulty in understanding the obligations (40.2%)." This was followed by "lack of dedicated personnel (35.0%)," "insufficient preparation time (13.9%)," and "budget shortage (11.0%)."

Among small and medium enterprises with 50 or more employees, 3 out of 10 (29.9%) said that the most urgent government support is the "distribution of manuals by industry and work type." This was followed by "support for investment costs in safety equipment (25.3%)" and "strengthening on-site consulting tailored to industry and company characteristics (24.5%)."

Additionally, 74.5% of the responding companies argued that an exemption clause from punishment should be established if there is no intentional or gross negligence. Legislative improvements considered necessary also included "revising the criminal punishment for business owners from a minimum to a maximum prison term (13.7%)" and "changing the concept of serious accidents from one death to two deaths (11.2%)."

Areas in the Serious Accidents Punishment Act that require legislative supplementation.
[Photo by Korea Federation of SMEs]

Lee Tae-hee, Head of the Smart Job Division at the Korea Federation of SMEs, said, "More than half of manufacturing companies with 50 or more employees have not prepared for the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and are struggling because it is difficult to clearly understand what the mandatory requirements are." He added, "Since this law places very strong responsibility on business owners, support focused on the field should be strengthened to give companies willing to comply the time to prepare." He also stated, "The (small and medium-sized enterprise) field is demanding balanced legislation," and added, "It is urgent to make minimal legislative improvements to exempt cases without intentional or gross negligence."

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