Construction Industry Expresses Opposition to the 'Serious Accidents Punishment Act'

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] The construction industry has expressed opposition to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act being legislated in the National Assembly.

The Korea Federation of Construction Associations announced on the 1st that it submitted a joint opinion letter signed by 16 construction-related organizations regarding the Serious Accidents Punishment Act proposed in the National Assembly to the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the Democratic Party of Korea, and the People Power Party.

The Serious Accidents Punishment Act, proposed respectively by Justice Party lawmaker Kang Eun-mi and Democratic Party lawmaker Park Joo-min, stipulates that business owners or management officials who violate safety obligations causing workers' deaths shall be subject to imprisonment with labor and fines amounting to several hundred million won.

Lawmaker Kang's bill prescribes imprisonment of three years or more or fines between 50 million won and 1 billion won, while lawmaker Park's bill prescribes imprisonment of two years or more or fines of 500 million won or more.

In the opinion letter, the federation argued, "In apartment construction sites, when a large workforce is deployed, the number of workers can reach 1,000 to 2,000 per day, making it practically and physically impossible for business owners or management officials to directly oversee safety at each individual site," adding, "Imposing broad obligations without considering these circumstances is unreasonable."

They further pointed out, "The bill imposes broad and abstract obligations, making it difficult to foresee the scope of duties, such as which obligations must be complied with and to what extent."

The federation emphasized, "Imposing mandatory minimum penalties for accidents caused by negligence rather than intent is excessively harsh considering the degree of illegality and blameworthiness," and "This bill focuses solely on punitive punishment for companies and business owners, causing significant concern in the construction industry."

A representative from the federation stated, "While we sympathize with the bill's intent to reduce fatal accidents, if the law is enacted and enforced, companies will be placed in a highly unstable state where they cannot predict when or how they might be penalized," adding, "Since even properly operating companies could face punishment, severely worsening the business environment, the bill should not be enacted."