Investigations Are Lengthy and Responsibility Is Vague... Serious Accident Punishment Act "Needs Clarification of Punishment Scope"

Yeocheon NCC Explosion Accident One Month Later
Ministry of Employment and Police Begin Separate Investigations
Cause Identification and Responsibility Attribution Prolonged

Hyundai Steel Halts Production on Accident Plating Line
Employees Complain of Work Overload and Vacation Ban
"Punishment Regulations Are Strict... but Targets and Mandatory Measures Are Unclear"

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Hyung-gil, Moon Chae-seok] As about a month has passed since the explosion accident at Yeocheon NCC Yeosu Plant, concerns are already rising over the attribution of responsibility.

Since the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act in January, this accident resulted in the highest number of casualties, and it is expected to serve as a gauge for the ambiguous provisions of the related law. It is anticipated that legal battles over the responsibility for the accident will follow. There are also complaints that the longer the accident recovery takes, the heavier the burden on companies and employees becomes.

Prolonged Investigation Inevitable... Increasing Burden on Companies and Employees

Following the explosion accident at Yeocheon NCC’s Plant 3, five company and subcontractor personnel have been booked, and detailed forensic investigations to determine the cause of the accident are underway.

The investigation is being conducted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the police. The police are investigating charges related to professional negligence resulting in death, while the Ministry of Employment and Labor is investigating violations of the Industrial Safety and Health Act by the safety and health management officer and violations of the Serious Accident Punishment Act by the management, determining whether to punish the management.

Not only are the investigative jurisdictions divided between the police and the Ministry of Employment and Labor, but due to the variable of COVID-19, the investigation into Yeocheon NCC is expected to be prolonged. Yeocheon NCC recently requested a temporary suspension of the investigation from the police due to confirmed COVID-19 cases.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor, having conducted a search and seizure at the company on the 14th of last month and begun a full-scale investigation, maintains that the schedule cannot be delayed. However, as accidents subject to the Serious Accident Punishment Act continue to occur, it is expected that the pace of investigations will slow down.

On the 8th, Yeocheon NCC held a temporary Industrial Safety and Health Committee meeting to share the results of the internal accident investigation committee’s investigation period and decided to jointly review the safety and health management system between labor and management. However, even after the explosion at Plant 3, overnight work had to be carried out to proceed with maintenance work at Plant 1. This is interpreted as an unavoidable measure to replace the equipment that was shut down after the explosion.

Hyundai Steel, which experienced fatal accidents at Dangjin Steelworks and Yesan Plant on the 2nd and 5th respectively, also took measures to strengthen safety levels after the accidents. However, work on the plating line where the accident occurred was halted, and complaints about increased workload have emerged among employees.

Recently, an anonymous workplace community posted that "the Hyundai Steel CEO ordered team leaders and above to prohibit taking leave for 100 days and to come to work even on holidays." The employee claimed, "The CEO said, ‘Team leaders and above must work emergency shifts without holidays for 100 days,’ and ‘If serious safety violations occur more than three times, severe disciplinary action will be taken.’"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Extent of Responsibility and Safety Obligations for Subcontractors

The ambiguous legal provisions of the Serious Accident Punishment Act have been controversial since its early implementation. This law punishes management responsible not only for workers directly employed at the workplace but also for contractors and subcontractors working related to the workplace if a serious accident occurs. The obligation to ensure safety and health is defined as "business or workplace that is substantially controlled and operated" (Article 5, Paragraph 1 of the law).

Industry and experts point out that the term "substantial" is ambiguous, making the scope unclear. They also argue that the management’s mandatory measures, such as "establishing a safety and health management system" or "fulfilling obligations under safety and health-related laws," are not specific enough.

Jeon Seung-tae, head of the Industrial Safety and Health Team at the Korea Employers Federation, said, "The biggest problem is that the responsibilities of the person in charge are unclear, and many say they don’t know the scope of related laws. Because there are strong punishment provisions, investigations are being forced even though the law does not clearly specify whether management obligations must be followed."

However, there is also speculation that the Serious Accident Punishment Act may be significantly revised with the new government. President-elect Yoon Seok-youl stated, "The conditions for detention under the Serious Accident Punishment Act are ambiguous," and "There could be various legal issues when criminal charges are filed," which is a representative example.

The industry’s opinion is that the scope of employers and management responsibility should be clearly narrowed and specified. It is argued that if a serious accident death occurs due to negligence by subcontracted field workers or site supervisors, this should be reflected in the application of the law.

Among the four workers who died in the Yeocheon NCC accident, one was a Yeocheon NCC employee, and the other three were subcontractor employees. The victims of the Hyundai Steel accident at Dangjin Steelworks were also workers from a subcontracted maintenance specialist company. A Hyundai Steel official said, "The Ministry of Employment and Labor is currently investigating the CEO and the safety general executive, but whether they will be subject to punishment will ultimately require a legal judgment."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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