[Inside Chodong] Industrial Accident Deaths Remain High... What Must Be Done for the Serious Accidents Punishment Act to Work?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] It has already been three weeks since the Itaewon tragedy that claimed the lives of 158 young people. The social impact remains strong, as the news was so shocking and heartbreaking. The fact that anyone can suddenly become a victim of such a tragedy lingers in people’s minds and is expected to dominate daily life for a long time.

There is another tragic site that we must pay attention to again. It is the industrial sites where fatal accidents involving workers in their 20s and 30s repeatedly occur?bakeries, construction sites, and railroad tracks. These are social tragedies where people risk their lives to make a living.

On the 7th, a worker in his 20s died while moving steel coils at an industrial complex in Gwangju. On the 5th, a worker in his 30s was struck and killed by a freight train while coupling cars at Obong Station in Uiwang City. On the 15th of last month, a worker in his 20s was sucked into a sauce mixing machine at a bakery and died, and on the 10th of last month, a worker in his 30s fell to his death while repairing the exterior wall of a high-rise apartment in Incheon.

It has already been 10 months since the Serious Accidents Punishment Act was introduced to reduce fatal accidents at workplaces. The law holds business owners more accountable and strengthens penalties to ensure thorough safety management at workplaces.

Since the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, a total of 179 serious accidents have occurred at workplaces subject to this law up to last month. The Ministry of Employment and Labor has referred 25 cases to the prosecution, and among these, the prosecution has indicted 4 cases and dismissed 1 case. Judging by these outcomes, it seems the law is fulfilling its role.

But has the industrial workplace become safer since the law’s enforcement? According to recent data released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the answer is no. From January to September this year, 483 fatal accidents subject to investigation occurred, resulting in 510 deaths. The number of workers who died from industrial accidents has actually increased compared to last year since the law was enacted.

Since the law was enacted only recently, it is too early to judge its effectiveness, but it raises questions about how much the Serious Accidents Punishment Act has helped raise awareness about fatal accidents.

Controversies about the law itself continue. An air conditioner parts manufacturer, which was the first to be indicted under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act for causing 16 cases of occupational acute poisoning due to the use of cleaning agents, filed a request for a constitutional review of the law with the court last month.

They argued that the provisions are vague and unclear, making arbitrary interpretation or enforcement of the law unavoidable, which violates the principle of legality requiring clarity in criminal law.

These issues have been consistently raised even before the law was enforced. According to a survey released last October by the Korea Employers Federation and the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, 47.1% of respondent companies said that the reason compliance with the Serious Accidents Punishment Act is difficult is because “the obligations are unclear, and they do not know what to do or how to do it.” This foresaw early on that the law’s ambiguity would make compliance difficult.

Voices calling for amendments to the law continue, starting from the business and legal communities, but discussions in the government and National Assembly have been inconclusive.

The Yoon Seok-yeol administration promised to prepare a ‘Serious Accident Reduction Roadmap’ so that everyone can work with peace of mind, but the release date has been postponed from the original October to the end of the year.

The business community argues that this is an opportunity to specify the controversial provisions of the law. The labor community counters that efforts should focus on ensuring the system is firmly established in the field rather than on amendments. Both the government and labor-management should reflect on the sense of crisis that social tragedies must be prevented and hope to enhance the effectiveness of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.

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