Fatalities up for a second year despite Serious Accidents Punishment Act

[Photo by Yonhap]

As many as 29 fatal accidents have been reported at workplaces across South Korea in October 2023 to date, including the death of a worker caused by a sand collapse at a construction site in Samcheok City, Gangwon Province on October 16. Concerns are rising that the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (SAPA) is not effectively preventing disasters despite its implementation two years ago.

According to Maeil Business Newspaper data released on Sunday, compiling all accidental deaths posted by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) based on reports of workplaces nationwide, the number of deaths increased for a second consecutive year since SAPA was enacted. According to KOSHA’s website, there were 388 fatalities and 53 injuries between January 27, 2022, when SAPA was enforced, and October 19 the same year. But the total number of reported fatalities and injuries was 459 and 35 respectively between January 27, 2023, and October 19, 2023, up 18.3 percent from a year earlier. The number of deaths is also up 19.4 percent from 325 in 2021, the year before SAPA took effect, and annual fatalities have been increasing every year since 2020, when the number was 265.

KOSHA’s accident report counts accidental fatalities that occurred within the past three days. Meanwhile, the quarterly statistics released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on fatal accidents subject to accident investigations uses a more conservative standard. As of the second quarter of 2023, there were 289 cumulative accidental deaths subject to investigation, down 9.1 percent from 318 in the same period last year.

However, experts say that they foresaw accidents would not be reduced despite SAPA’s enforcement. “Companies are just doing the paperwork to avoid penalties,” according to Jung Jin-woo, professor of safety engineering at Seoul National University of Science and Technology. “For small companies with tight budgets in particular, spending manpower and money on paperwork leaves no room for effective safety measures.” Despite all this, SAPA will be applied to companies with fewer than 50 workers from January 27, 2024.