중대재해처벌법상 중대산업재해의 발생 현황 및 사례 - 건설산업을 중심으로 -

Current status and Cases of Serious Industrial Accidents under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act - Focusing on the Construction Industry -

The Serious Accidents Punishment Act was enacted on January 26, 2021, and has been in effect since January 27, 2022. However, for businesses or workplaces with less than 5 full-time workers, the obligations or liability provisions regarding ‘serious industrial accidents’ in this Act do not apply. The purpose of this Act is to prevent major disasters and protect the lives and bodies of citizens and workers. Serious industrial accidents are industrial accidents defined in Article 2, subparagraph 1 of the Industrial Safety and Health Act, which resulted in the death of one or more people. Therefore, this Act has an important meaning in various issues throughout the industry. In particular, when this Act is applied to the ‘construction’ industry, its importance is further emphasized. According to the status of major industrial accidents from 2012 to 2021, there are significantly more deaths in the ‘construction’ industry than in other industries. In other words, by size of construction amount, ‘less than 5 billion won’ is the most, and by type, ‘fall’ is the most common. In addition, cases of various fatal accidents have been reported during the construction and dismantling of buildings and the use of construction equipment. Implications raised to be considered when the current law is applied are as follows: i) Exclusion of application to small and medium-sized enterprises, etc., ii) Ambiguity of the responsibility of the person in charge of management, iii) Necessity of discussion on the meaning of practical governance, operation and management. In this regard, amendment bills have been proposed to the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and are currently under review. Therefore, at the actual construction site, the CEO/CSO or manager must thoroughly check whether the laws and regulations are observed and take necessary measures so that safety measures can be clearly implemented. In the construction industry, serious industrial accidents should be drastically reduced and safety culture should be properly established through communication and opinions of related parties to improve the problems of the current laws and regulations.