20s Glass Cleaner Dies After Rope Breaks on First Workday... Safety Officer Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison

Window Cleaning Worker Falls to Death on First Day
Supervisor Responsible for Not Installing Safety Equipment to Finish Work Quickly
Court Sentences to 1 Year Imprisonment and Detains... "Light Punishments for Industrial Safety Crimes Must Be Corrected"

In Incheon, a man in his 20s died after falling during window cleaning work on a high-rise apartment. The safety officer was sentenced to prison and taken into custody. The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Pixabay]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] In connection with the incident where a worker in his 20s fell to his death while cleaning the glass windows of a high-rise apartment in Incheon, the safety manager was sentenced to prison and taken into custody in court. The manager gave work instructions to the worker without properly installing safety equipment in order to finish the job quickly.

According to the legal community on the 2nd, the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 1 (Judge Oh Gidu) announced that it sentenced A, the safety management team leader of the window cleaning service company, who was indicted without detention on charges including professional negligence causing death, to one year in prison and took him into custody in court. The window cleaning service company was also fined 85 million won.

A was indicted without detention on charges of neglecting safety management and causing the death of B, a worker in his 20s who was cleaning windows, at a 49-story apartment in Songdo International City, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, around 10:40 a.m. on September 27 last year.

At the time, B fell to his death after the work rope broke while cleaning the exterior windows at the 15th floor height of the apartment, falling 45 meters to the ground below. It is known that B’s work rope, which descended from the apartment rooftop, was cut after being rubbed against a metal signboard attached to the exterior at the 48th floor height. He was a daily worker with less than 10 years of window cleaning experience and had come to this site for the first time on the day of the accident.

Investigations revealed that A, who instructed the external window cleaning work, did not install a safety auxiliary rope (vertical lifeline) used separately from the work rope of the swing stage (simple chair). The vertical lifeline is safety equipment designed to prevent fall accidents caused by the breaking of the work rope when working at high altitudes. According to Article 63 of the Industrial Safety and Health Standards, employers must install safety belts and lifelines to prevent workers from falling.

Earlier, the Incheon Regional Headquarters of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency received a report from the apartment management office about the external window cleaning work four days before the accident and conducted a safety inspection on site. At that time, the agency detected signs that the cleaning company did not provide safety equipment for the workers and requested corrective action. However, it is known that the company ignored this and continued the work.

During police investigation, A reportedly stated, "When cleaning external windows, we move left and right, and installing a lifeline gets in the way," and "I did not use the auxiliary rope to finish the work quickly."

Judge Oh said, "Due to the defendant’s breach of duty of care, a serious result occurred with the death of a young worker in his 20s," and added, "There is a great need to sound the alarm against the complacency toward industrial safety in workplaces."

He continued, "Very light suspended sentences or fines are often given for industrial safety and health crimes like this case, but this must be corrected," and explained, "Otherwise, many workers will continue to die in accidents at industrial sites."

Meanwhile, among accidents occurring at construction sites over the past three years, falls accounted for the highest number of incidents. According to data on 'Construction Site Safety Accident Status' submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Safety Management Institute to Assemblyman Han Junho of the Democratic Party on the 28th of last month, 766 people died and 15,796 were injured in construction site accidents over the past three years.

Among all types of accidents, falls accounted for the most with 369 cases (53.6%). This was followed by being crushed (123 cases), struck by objects (74 cases), and caught in/between (34 cases). The number of deaths was also highest in fall accidents. Over the past three years, 384 people died from falls. The number of deaths caused by being crushed by heavy objects or struck by objects reached 141 (crushed) and 75 (struck by objects), respectively.