On April 4, 2024, the Ulsan District Court sentenced the representative director of an auto parts manufacturing company to two years in prison without parole for violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (“SAPA”) due to a fatal accident of an employee (“Judgment”).
The Judgment is the highest sentence among first-instance judgments of nationwide fifteen serious accidents cases so far and only the second case in which the RMP (‘responsible management party’ under the SAPA) was sentenced to imprisonment without parole. In the first case, the representative director of a steel manufacturer was sentenced to imprisonment of one year without parole in April last year.
The Ulsan District Court (“Court”) proclaimed the sentence of imprisonment without parole by mainly taking into consideration that the representative director in his functions as the RMP and ‘Responsible Safety and Health Person’ of the company (i) was aware of occupational safety defects in the company, (ii) was reprimanded several times by safety inspection agencies, and (iii) failed to take appropriate and necessary measures to remedy the defects by jeopardizing the safety of the employees in the company. The Court decided not to consider any mitigating circumstances, such as the fact that he took immediate corrective measures after the accident and settled with the family members of the victim.
I. Court Decision
1. Factual Background
The company produces car parts with sixty employees and is located in Yangsan City at the southeastern coast of Korea. The representative director holds 100% of the shares in the company. He is the RMP under the SAPA as well as the Responsible Safety and Health Person under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSHA”), while the general director of the company assists him with the day-to-day operations, including safety management.
A die casting machine is operated at the company by employees for the cleaning of certain molds. A safety gate protection device (so-called ‘limit switch’) at the machine needs to be operated in order to switch-off the machine. Due to numerous safety inspections, the representative director was aware that the safety gate protection device did not function properly. However, he did not take any measures to repair such device or suspend the operation of the machine until the device has been repaired. On July 14, 2022, an employee of the company was killed inside the die casting machine while cleaning a mold due to severe head injuries caused by the faulty operation of such machine.
2. Summary of Indicted Facts
The Ulsan Public Prosecutors’ Office indicted the representative director for violating the SAPA due to manslaughter by industrial accident. He is accused of killing the employee because he failed to (i) implement processes to identify and remedy hazards and risk factors at the company as well as other necessary measures as ordered during annual inspections (Art. 4, subpara. 3 of the Enforcement Decree of the SAPA, the “SAPA-ED”); (ii) prepare and provide evaluation criteria for appointing a person responsible for safety and health management at the company (Art. 4, subpara. 5 of the SAPA-ED); (iii) build a safety and health management system at the company, including a manual about actions to be taken in case of serious industrial accidents (Art. 4, subpara. 8 of the SAPA-ED); and (iv) assign personnel and procure additional budget after having failed to perform obligations under safety and health laws (Art. 5(2), para. 2 of the SAPA-ED).
The representative director was also indicted for a violation of the OSHA. He failed to immediately repair the safety gate protection device even though he was aware that the device was defective. He did not take necessary safety measures, such as suspending the operation of the machine during cleaning works of the mold. Further, the general director was indicted for involuntary manslaughter due to negligence because he failed to take care of the proper operation of the safety gate protection device and had not stopped the machine for cleaning works. Therefore, he was negligent in performing his professional duties, which ultimately led to the death of the employee.
3. Court Ruling
The court ruled that the representative director shall be imprisoned for two years without parole. It did not take into consideration that the representative director and general director pleaded guilty to all charges, took immediate corrective measures after the accident and settled with the family members of the victim.
II. Analysis and Implications of the Judgment
1. Analysis
The Court elaborates in detail that the degree of violation by the defendants was serious. Such degree was taken as an aggravating factor in proclaiming the imprisonment sentence without parole.
First, the Court finds that the representative director was warned repetitively, at least three times, by a specialized safety inspection agency (the last time being only ten days prior to the accident) that an accident may occur due to the defective safety gate protection device. Such agency recommended to implement safety measures, such as the installation of an interlock device or strict control over the access to the machine during its operation. However, the defendants failed to take such measures.
Secondly, the Court held that the safety inspection results were not shared with the person at the company, who is in charge of operating the die casting machine and also the supervisor of the victim. Further, the victim was not properly trained on the possible occurrence of an accident in the machine. The machine also lacked any other protection functionality.
The Court concluded that the defendants blatantly ignored the general safety issues of the company and neglected any protection mechanisms at the machine, which, according to the Court, led to the fatal accident.
In particular, the court stated, "even though the defendants took corrective measures immediately after the accident and promptly settled with the family members, the court decides not to consider any mitigating factors due to the high degree of violation resulting in an imprisonment sentence without parole."
2. Implications
The Judgment could serve as precedent that RMPs will be subject to severe punishment under the SAPA in case of high degree of violations, in case an RMP fails to immediately take corrective measures after safety risk factors have been detected in a safety inspection, regardless of any mitigating factors.
Therefore, it is crucial that an RMP promptly takes necessary measures to improve safety and prevention of accidents once risk factors have been detected.
In light of the Judgment, companies subject to SAPA are advised, once inspected, to review their existing safety and health inspection results and whether all findings have been thoroughly remedied.
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Bae, Kim & Lee assisted in multiple matters involving industrial safety and is highly-experienced in dealing with severe industrial accidents. The long-existing industrial safety task force team (TFT) was joined by specialists on SAPA-matters, who exhibit excellent expertise and abundant practical experience in the field of industrial accidents and regulatory compliance. Among others, the TFT advises on the SAPA and its effects on workplaces, inspects compliance systems, assists with responding to investigation agencies in case of serious accidents. For any additional information or questions on SAPA, please reach out to the BKL SAPA Response Team (project.safety@bkl.co.kr) or your BKL contact.