Death of Subcontracted Worker in Goyang City, Prison Sentence Given to CEO
Attention on Sentencing Due to Scope of Punishment under Serious Accident Punishment Act
In relation to the subcontractor worker death incident in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, which attracted attention as the first verdict under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (Serious Accidents Punishment Act)1, the CEO was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year probation. This is the first time a court has issued a ruling on a manager prosecuted under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.
The Uijeongbu District Court Goyang Branch Criminal Division 4 (Judge Kim Dong-won) on the 6th sentenced CEO A of Onyu Partners, who was indicted for violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (industrial accident causing death), to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year probation. Earlier, at the closing arguments on February 28, the prosecution requested the court to sentence A to 2 years in prison and impose a fine of 150 million won on the company.
The court stated, "The company failed to take safety and health measures such as attaching safety belts and preparing work plans, resulting in the worker falling to death," and added, "Considering the sincere apology and consolation money paid to the bereaved family afterward, and the fact that the family did not wish for punishment."
This case began on May 14 last year when a subcontracted worker fell to death at an extension construction site of a nursing hospital in Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si. At the time, the accident occurred while moving a 94.2 kg rebar load on the 5th floor of a building where no safety belts were installed.
The prosecution defined not only the subcontractor’s CEO but also the CEO of the primary contractor as business owners obligated to take safety measures to prevent industrial accidents in the indictment. The primary contractor’s CEO is known to have failed to prepare a fall prevention work plan. Additionally, they did not designate a work supervisor and did not provide safety belts to the victim, among other failures to establish a safety and health management system.
The prosecution judged that the primary contractor’s CEO did not sufficiently fulfill safety and health obligations, resulting in the lack of safety measures at the site and consequently causing the serious accident. This acknowledges the causal relationship between the inadequate safety and health management system and the serious accident.
The reason this verdict attracted attention is that it determines the extent to which the court recognizes the scope of managerial responsibility under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. Previously, the prosecution had brought Jeong Do-won, chairman of Sampyo Group, who was the first investigation target under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, to trial. As the prosecution indicted corporate owners under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, the business community has been closely watching this ruling. If the scope of managerial responsibility expands, legal liability could increase.
Meanwhile, the Serious Accidents Punishment Act stipulates that business owners and managers who fail to fulfill accident prevention duties when serious accidents such as deaths occur at workplaces with 50 or more regular employees shall be punished. The law applies to construction sites with a project amount of 5 billion won or more, and the statutory penalty is imprisonment for one year or more or a fine of up to 1 billion won.
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