Company A was managing a warehouse at Suwon Airfield. At around 8:20 am on September 6, 2013, while moving an outdoor air conditioner with a forklift in a warehouse according to the instructions of the guide (victim), the air conditioner loaded on the forklift leaned to the left and hit the guide and the victim, and the victim was seriously injured. He was immediately transported to the Ajou University Hospital, where he died while receiving first aid. In response, Company A promptly called 112 to report it to the police station, and immediately the police came to the hospital to confirm the death and conduct an on-site investigation of the accident site. At the same time, the labor attorney advising Company A was contacted to seek advice on an urgent post-processing method.
The following three questions were asked by the company, and they were generally questions about necessary measures in the event of a fatal industrial accident. First, the company's opinion on how to handle bereaved families and accidents; second, whether there is civil or criminal liability for the company when handling industrial accident insurance; and third, industrial accident handling procedures and methods. For reference, the victim was a 72-year-old senior, and the average monthly wage was 1.72 million won.


As in the case above, when an industrial accident fatality occurs, the employer must promptly and appropriately take the necessary measures for the bereaved family in accordance with the relevant laws. If a worker dies as a result of an accident while performing work, the police must intervene and investigate the accident, and at the same time, the company must discuss future compensation with the bereaved family without delay so that the funeral process can proceed smoothly and the accident can be dealt with appropriately. In the following, we will review the countermeasures taken by company A in the event of a fatal industrial accident and examine the measures to be taken in the event of a fatal industrial accident in the future.

■ Company's Response Measures to Work-related Fatal Accidents and Bereaved Families.
First of all, the company must immediately report the accident to the local labor office, as the death accident is considered a serious accident. The head of the site discusses funeral procedures with the bereaved family, and at the same time, the HR team must devise countermeasures such as legal, moral, and social responsibilities at the company level. As the main response to workers' deaths due to industrial accidents, it is necessary to prepare and respond in advance to report the occurrence of a serious accident, the amount and method of industrial accident compensation, and civil damages.

❍ Immediate Report in Case of Serious Accident
Serious disasters are: ① disaster in which one or more people died; ② accidents in which two or more people were injured at the same time, requiring 3 months or more of medical treatment; and ③ accidents in which 10 or more people were injured at the same time. In the event of a serious accident, it must be immediately reported to the competent labor office. This is a serious accident because one person died as a result of the accident. Therefore, it is necessary to immediately report the fact of death to the police station as well as the fact that it is a serious accident to the competent labor office. Failure to report or reporting beyond 24 hours will result in a fine of up to 10 million won.

❍ Preparing Materials for Responding to Bereaved Families
The bereaved family requested the following three things from the company as a condition for holding the funeral: First, confirmation of industrial accident handling; second, agreement on company responsibilities other than industrial accidents and schedule; and third, advance payment of hospital and funeral expenses. The company's response to the three items requested by the bereaved family is as follows: First, we promise to deal with industrial accidents as a confirmation item, and we will process it as soon as possible, as we need information about the bereaved family in the application form. Second, whether or not there is an agreement on company responsibilities other than industrial accidents and the contents of the reply to the schedule, if there is a part that the company is responsible for, it will not avoid it and will take responsibility. We will make sure that consultations can proceed on the date desired by the bereaved family and the appointed labor attorney. Third, regarding the advance payment of hospital and funeral expenses, it was a sudden occurrence, and unfortunately, it was impossible to deposit and withdraw money through the bank due to the overlapping weekend, so it is considered that the requested advance payment would be difficult. However, we will do our best to settle the settlement as soon as possible after the bereaved family takes care of it first. If the bereaved family wishes, we will make sure that hospital and funeral expenses are paid on Mondays, when bank transactions are possible.

■ Calculation of Industrial Accident Compensation (Survivors' Benefits and Funeral Expenses)
In the event of death due to an industrial accident, the surviving family can claim survivors' benefits and funeral expenses according to the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, and the calculations for them must be made in advance. The amount of industrial accident compensation consists of hospital expenses, survivors' benefits, and funeral expenses. The details are as follows: Compensation for survivors is 1,300 days of average wage and can be received in full as a pension or as a 50% pension and 50% lump sum. Funeral expenses are equivalent to 120 days’ average wages. For reference, if a spouse who received survivors' pension dies while receiving survivors' pension and receives a pension that does not correspond to 100% of the survivors' lump-sum payment, the lump-sum is paid to the next pension recipient by calculating the difference between the survivors' lump-sum payment and the actual amount received.

■ Calculation of Civil Damages
If a worker dies due to an industrial accident, the company treats it as industrial accident insurance and is exempt from liability for compensation. However, if the company is at fault for the death of a worker, such as due to the company's lack of safety measures, it must be liable for civil damages to the bereaved family of the injured in addition to industrial accident compensation. The scope of civil damages refers to all damages suffered by the injured party in a causal relationship with the negligence of the company. The scope of damages recognized in precedent is divided into active damage, passive damage, and mental damage.
In general, when a worker dies, the scope is passive loss (loss of income from the time of death to the time of retirement) and lost severance pay (loss of severance pay due to early retirement), active loss of funeral expenses, and mental loss of alimony, which is damages. In general, when the age of the worker who suffered an accident due to an industrial accident is small or the worker's negligence is small, the amount of civil damages far exceeds the amount of industrial accident compensation. However, in the case of the injured worker, since he is 72 years old, there is no loss of income or severance pay, but only alimony.
In the case of an industrial accident death, the ‘Industrial Accident Insurance Act’ only stipulates medical care benefits, survivors’ benefits, and funeral expenses but does not stipulate alimony, so it is not subject to accident compensation. Receipt of compensation for an accident cannot have any effect on claims for alimony under the civil law and cannot be exempted from liability for compensation for alimony on the grounds of compensation for an accident. Therefore, if an accident is caused by the negligence of the employer, it is possible to claim compensation for mental damage against the company even if the worker has received compensation for industrial accidents. The court determines the amount of alimony, taking into consideration the age of the victim, the degree of negligence, and the amount of compensation received.

■ Legal Liability of the Company in Workers' Compensation Insurance Processing
❍ Industrial Accident Compensation and Civil Liability for Damages
If there is no negligence on the part of the employer, the injured person can receive accident compensation under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act but cannot claim compensation for damages caused by torts under the Civil Act against the employer. However, if the employer's negligence is acknowledged, he or she will be liable for damages caused by the tort according to the civil law according to the degree of negligence. However, in this case, the offset of profit and loss is recognized within the limits of the scope covered by industrial accident insurance.

❍ Workers Compensation and Criminal Liability
If a direct perpetrator-victim relationship arises in an industrial accident death, the victim's bereaved family can file a criminal complaint against the individual perpetrator for negligent manslaughter. In the case of the company in this case, although it was not directly sued by the workers, the workplace where the serious accident occurred was inspected by a labor inspector to see if it complied with industrial safety in accordance with the Industrial Safety and Health Act. In some cases, criminal penalties will be imposed. Therefore, workplaces where serious accidents have occurred should prepare for inspections by labor inspectors in relation to occupational safety and thoroughly prepare to prevent the recurrence of serious accidents.

■ Industrial Accident Compensation Process
Industrial accident compensation is handled by the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Corporation, entrusted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. Survivors must fill out the ‘Application for Survivors Benefits and Funeral Expenses’ at the branch office of the Labor Welfare Corporation and apply for it by signing it with the company’s joint name. In the case of a serious accident like this, it is necessary to immediately report it to the competent labor office. Otherwise, the company must prepare and submit an industrial accident investigation table to the competent labor office. In cases where the facts are clear, such as this industrial accident death accident, the industrial accident approval and related compensation are made within 2 to 3 weeks, but in the case of an occupational disease, it takes at least 2 months to process the industrial accident application. The procedure consists of receiving the medical care application, checking the disaster situation and disease status, confirming the advisory doctor, and making a final approval or disapproval decision through the Disease Judgment Committee.