A Study on the Improvement of Legislation in Accordance with Serious Accidents
Authors:   Korean Public Land Law Association, Seon Eun-Ae 
Published: September 2022

Paragraph 6 in Article 34 of the Constitution is prescribing that “The state shall endeavor to prevent disasters and to protect its people from the dangers.” Hence, the role of the nation is being presented concerning the prevention of industrial accidents and the protection from danger. Accordingly, it may be mentioned that workers have the right to be safe from danger and that the state has an obligation to ensure the safety of workers from social risks.
The total revision in ｢Occupational Safety and Health Act｣ on January 15, 2019 led to having appointed a person in charge and a responsible person to manage the safety and health of workers and to having been taken measures such as the organization and operation of the safety and health management regulations and of the safety and health consultative group. With regard to the enforcement in ｢The Serious Accident Punishment Act｣ that was enacted on January 26, 2021 and was implemented on January 27, 2022, the punishment, etc. for business owners, chief executives, public officials, and corporations were stipulated. It led to having come to prevent serious accidents and protect the lives and bodies of citizens and workers. The objective of ｢The Serious Accident Punishment Act｣ is not to punish the chief executive by holding him or her accountable for that, but to have a large preventive aspect to block severe accidents from occurring.
In 2022, the fatalities in severe industrial accidents stood at 303 cases(320 deaths), thereby having diminished by 31 cases and by 20 fatalities compared to 334 cases(340 deaths) in the same period of the previous year. The violation of the safety measures that caused the death accident appeared to be in order of the failure to establish the work procedures and standards such as the designation of a work conductor with 108 cases(24.4%), the failure to take action to prevent the risk of falling such as the installation of safety handrails with 70 cases(15.8%), and the failure to take safety measures for dangerous machinery and equipment such as conveyors with 53 cases(12.0%). This implies the real situation that severe accidents are only decreased but not eradicated despite the enforcement in ｢The Serious Accident Punishment Act｣. There are problems about the exemption even from the punishment because the application scope of ｢The Serious Accident Punishment Act｣ leads to being not adopted the regulations for serious industrial accidents to a business owner or a chief manager of a business or workplace with less than five full-time workers, about the extensive law application subjects, and about the ambiguous criteria for punishment in the event of an accident.
Consequently, the law application subjects need to be clarified through revising the Serious Accident Punishment Act. Thus, the range of business owners, chief managers, etc must be established. Also, there is a need to be fulfilled the obligation to secure safety and health under the Serious Accidents Act aiming to assure workers' right to safety, and to be also reviewed the safety & health education.
And to obstruct industrial accidents, the opinions of the field workers should be heard. Thus, it is necessary to arrange a procedure of listening to and reflecting the opinions on risks or improvements from field workers. In relation to the scope of workers, an expanded implementation plan must be sought by adding vocational education trainees who have signed a field training contract in accordance with ｢Vocational Education and Training Promotion Act｣. This improvement in the Serious Accident Legislation should lead to being secured workers' right to safety and to being realized their welfare.