Unable to Amend the Serious Accident Punishment Act, Only Manuals?…Industry Deeply Concerned (Comprehensive)

Inclusion of Amendments to Industrial Safety and Health Laws in National Tasks
Limitations Pointed Out in Enforcement Decree Amendments for Employer Punishment Provisions

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is delivering opening remarks at a current issues meeting held at the National Pension Service in Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do on the 20th. Photo by the Transition Team Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] "My primary policy direction during my term is to remove all regulations that can be lifted. The government's role is to eliminate obstacles and regulations that hinder entrepreneurs, and the new administration will work under the principle of unconditionally supporting the people and businesses who are eager to earn money." (April 20, visit to Jeonju National Pension Service and Daebul National Industrial Complex)

Although the new government has decided to revise subordinate statutes instead of amending the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which has been in effect for 100 days, voices from the business community are already pointing out institutional limitations. Even though the new government's national agenda has been revealed, there are evaluations that the 'regulatory reform' content, which tightens corporate activities, falls short of initial expectations.

The 20th Presidential Transition Committee stated through the '110 National Tasks' that "Regarding industrial safety, we will resolve uncertainties at the field level by revising related industrial safety and health laws and clarify the obligations of managers to ensure safety and health through guidelines and manuals." Considering the 'minority government' situation and the fact that the law has not been in effect for long, the intention is to improve the law through presidential decrees rather than amending the law itself.

The clarification is expected to pertain to the item of 'management measures necessary to fulfill obligations under safety and health-related laws,' which is defined as one of the safety and health obligations of business owners and management officials.

Professor Lee Hwang-hee of Sungkyunkwan University Law School explained, "The contents of safety and health-related laws are prerequisites for punishment under this law, but there may be difficulties in understanding the specific details from the legal text alone. If investigative agencies find even minor safety or health issues, it could become very difficult for business owners and management officials to escape allegations of violating obligations."

In particular, there are criticisms that revising the enforcement decree has clear limitations regarding the punishment provisions that the business community has demanded to amend. Currently, if one or more workers die due to a major industrial accident at a workplace, the management responsible for neglecting safety measures is subject to imprisonment for more than one year or a fine of up to 1 billion KRW.

The business community requests lowering the punishment level to fines rather than imprisonment, which could increase management uncertainty, but this is impossible without legal amendments.

A law firm official said, "Given the minority government situation in the National Assembly, it is judged that legal amendments will be difficult to achieve in a short time. It is expected that adjustments will be made in a reasonable direction during future investigations or legal applications, so companies will need to prepare countermeasures through prior regulatory reviews and compliance analyses."

The labor sector is opposing, stating that 'revising industrial safety and health-related laws' effectively nullifies the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions criticized on the 3rd in a statement, "Resolving uncertainties and clarifying safety and health obligations will make the safety and health obligations of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act similar to those of the Industrial Safety and Health Act, creating loopholes for management officials and corporations to escape investigations and trials."

Additionally, regarding the Chemical Substances Control Act (Hwaggwanbeop) and the Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals (Hwapyungbeop), which the industrial sector had pointed out as excessive regulatory legislation, the national agenda includes '2024 introduction of differentiated designation and management of hazardous chemicals' instead of legal amendments. Although the intention is to apply regulations differently depending on the type of chemical substances, confusion at the frontline is inevitable until detailed content is released.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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