FIRST PRISON SENTENCE FOR WORKER DEATH

[Anchor Lead]

The Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which holds business managers accountable when major accidents occur at industrial sites, has been in effect since January of last year. For the first time since the law's implementation, a representative of the main contractor company was sentenced to imprisonment and detained in court at the first trial. Even if a subcontractor's employee had been involved in a fatal accident, the court ruled that the main contractor company and its representative should be held responsible if they did not fulfill their responsibility for prevention.

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Hankook Steel & Mill, a steel producer. In March 2022 a subsidiary worker in his 60s was crushed to death under a 1.2-ton steel plate that was blocking the entrance to the furnace. Prosecutors indicted the company's CEO for allegedly violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.

[Soundbite] (CEO of Hankook Steel & Mill(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "The law has a lot of ambiguous parts. It's unclear what's stipulated by Serious Accidents Punishment Act and what by Occupational Safety and Health Act."

The Masan Branch of Changwon District Court has sentenced the CEO to one year in jail. He was arrested in court. It's the first prison sentence issued to a CEO of a contractor company since the Serious Accidents Punishment Act took effect. The court delivered a harsh punishment in line with the law's goal to prevent serious workplace accidents by punishing corporate heads. The judges said even though safety violations had been detected multiple times at the workplace in question, the CEO neglected his responsibility to provide sufficient safety measures for workers. The judges also dismissed the CEO's claim that there was not enough time to prepare, as authorities gave a one-year grace period prior to the law's enforcement. So far 14 indictments have been made for violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. The labor circles welcomed the ruling.

[Soundbite] Kwon Young-kook(Attorney) : "The first verdict on the Serious Accidents Punishment Act violation was probation. It was disappointing. The prison sentence for the head of Hankook Steel & Mill represents a step forward."

Management, on the other hand, including the Korea Enterprises Federation, says the court verdict lacks balance and legitimacy, and is demanding that the law be revised.