Labor Law Q&A details

Chapter 14 The Serious Disaster Punishment Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act

The Serious Disaster Punishment Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act

I understand that the duties of employers have increased in relation to the occurrence of industrial accidents due to the recent establishment of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. What is the difference between the existing Occupational Safety and Health Act and the newly established Serious Accidents Punishment Act?

The Act on the Punishment of Serious Accidents (hereinafter referred to as the “Serious Disaster Punishment Act” or “SDPASDPA”) was enacted on January 8, 2021. The Occupational Safety and Health Act (hereinafter referred to as the “OSH Act” or “OSHA”) was also completely revised in January 2020 to reduce the occurrence of fatal industrial accidents. However, as fatal accidents have not decreased, a fatal accident penalty law was introduced that is much stronger than the existing penal provisions in the OSH Act. The Serious Disaster Punishment Act covers both major industrial accidents occurring on company premises as well as major fatal accidents/incidents out in society at large, such as the Sewol Ferry accident and the fatalities connected to air purifier disinfectant.
However, the current OSH Act requires that employers establish a management system for occupational safety and health, to take steps to prevent incidents with harmful/dangerous equipment, facilities, materials, working environment, etc., and at the same time to periodically provide workers with the necessary safety and health education to further work to reduce industrial accidents. In cases where an employer is found to have violated the Serious Disaster Punishment Act, that employer will be punished immediately, to further incentivize other employers to make it a habit to protect occupational safety and health and work to avoid accidents. The OSH Act is designed to prevent industrial accidents from happening, while the Serious Disaster Punishment Act is designed to punish business owners whose workplaces have been the site of a fatal incident.
Fatal accidents as stipulated in the Serious Disaster Punishment Act, are accidents where ① one or more deaths have occurred, ② two or more persons are injured and require treatment for six months or more due to the same accident, or ③ three persons contract an occupational illness (such as acute poisoning) due to the same hazard within one year (Article 2 of the SDPA). The OSH Act specifies fatal industrial accidents as the following: ① one or more deaths have occurred, ② two or more people are injured at the same time and require at least 3 months of medical care, or ③ 10 or more people are injured or contract an occupational illness at the same time (Article 2 of the OSH Act, Article 3 of the Enforcement Decree).
The Serious Disaster Punishment Act does not apply to workplaces with fewer than five regular workers (Article 3 of the SDPA). However, the OSH Act applies to all workplaces. All or part of the law may not apply in consideration of the degree of harm or risk, business type and size, and business location.
A person who causes the death of a worker due to failing to comply with the obligation to take measures to protect occupational safety and health under the OSH Act shall be punished by imprisonment of not more than 7 years or a fine not exceeding KRW 100 million. If the same type of fatal accident occurs, 150% of the punishment is levied this time (Article 167 of the OSH Act).
The Serious Disaster Punishment Act was designed to raise awareness about the need to prevent accidents through strong penalties for employers found to be at fault (through failure to fulfill OSHA requirements) for fatal and other serious accidents. On the other hand, the OSH Act requires that employers have an occupational safety and health system in place to reduce the chance of industrial accidents occurring, take action to prevent incidents involving hazardous work or substances, and continuously provide education for the purpose of preventing industrial accidents.

For further questions, please
call (+82) 2-539-0098 or email bongsoo@k-labor.com

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