Ministry of Employment and Labor Releases List of 22 Workplaces with Serious Accidents
The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) on the 31st disclosed the names and accident details of 22 workplaces, whose management executives have received confirmed sentences following serious industrial accidents, through the official gazette and its official website. The Act on Punishment of Serious Accidents allows for the public disclosure of workplace names, dates, locations, accident details and causes, and records of serious accidents over the past five years, once sentences for responsible parties are finalized. The MOEL has been publishing lists of workplaces with confirmed sentences twice a year since September 2023, bringing the total number of disclosed workplaces to 44 with this latest announcement.
Among the workplaces subject to this disclosure were several with a history of repeated safety incidents. At the Samgwang S&C shipyard in Goseong County, Gyeongnam Province, one worker died after falling inside a ship's cargo hold during railing repair work on February 19, 2022. This workplace had a record of three serious industrial accidents in the five years from September 2020 to September last year. At a new construction site by Baron Construction in Anseong City, Gyeonggi Province, two workers were killed and five injured when a ninth-floor slab collapsed during concrete pouring on August 9, 2023.
Among the management executives subject to public disclosure, one received a prison sentence, 22 received suspended prison sentences, and one received both a suspended sentence and a fine. Fines imposed on corporations ranged from a minimum of 20 million won to a maximum of 2 billion won, with an average fine of approximately 110 million won. The most common violation type was negligence in the duty to inspect and improve hazardous factors, accounting for 41 cases (24%), followed by failure to ensure the safety and health manager could perform their role effectively, with 37 cases (22%).
Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoo emphasized, "We will impose strict investigations and economic penalties on companies that cause serious accidents by neglecting safety despite having sufficient capacity, making them recognize safety not as a cost, but as an investment." He also stated that the ministry would create an environment where small and medium-sized enterprises can strive for accident prevention through bold support.