Jeong Jin-woo, a professor of safety engineering at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, interviews the JoongAng Ilbo on the afternoon of the 19th at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Gongneung-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul. Professor Jeong criticized “the political circles are missing in the illusion that if the level of punishment is raised, industrial accidents can be drastically reduced.” Reporter Kim Kyung-rok
“I think I’ve fallen into the illusion that raising the level of punishment can dramatically reduce industrial accidents.”
This is an evaluation of the Severe Accident Corporate Punishment Act (hereinafter referred to as the Severe Accident Act) by Jeong Jin-woo, 53, a professor of safety engineering, who met at the lab of Seoul National University of Science and Technology in Nowon-gu, Seoul. At the beginning of this month, the National Assembly passed the Severe Disasters Act, in which a person in charge of management is imprisoned for at least one year if one or more workers die in a serious accident. Professor Jeong emphasized, “The Occupational Safety and Health Act (hereinafter referred to as the Sanan Act), which raised the level of punishment for business owners in the Woncheong Province, came into effect in January of last year, but the death toll of industrial accidents in 2020 increased to 860, rather than the previous year (855). The fact that the number of industrial accident deaths increased despite the decrease in the number of employed due to Corona 19 proves that contrary to the expectations of the National Assembly, the effects of the San-An Act did not appear. Professor Jeong is an expert in the field of industrial safety, who served as the head of the Industrial Accident Prevention Policy Division of the Ministry of Employment and Labor and an international cooperation officer. Since 2015, he has been teaching Sanan Law at Seoul National University of Science and Technology. The following are questions and answers.
Interview with Professor Jeong Jin-woo, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, from the Ministry of Employment
- Criticism about the legislation came from the public hearing on the Severe Disaster Law.
- “The serious disaster method came from symptomatic therapy. This law was made without a prescription for the root cause of industrial accidents (hereinafter referred to as industrial accidents). The Blue House and the politicians who led the law were willing, but they lacked expertise. Occupational safety and health should be approached from a technical perspective, not a law. The Severe Accident Act recognizes industrial accidents as antisocial crimes such as theft and assault. Strict punishment is good for getting votes, but it hides the structural nature of industrial accidents.”
- Something specifically the problem.
- “The law is ambiguous. The safety obligations imposed on managers are comprehensive and unclear. It is like’Establish a safety and health management system such as manpower and budget necessary for disaster prevention’. A construction company has more than 250 sites nationwide. Even if the management manager at the head office has the will to comply, will he be able to understand the situation on the site and deal with it? Management measures necessary for the fulfillment of obligations under the safety and health related laws were also obligated to the management manager, but there are more than 50 safety related laws. How can I check them all and take corrective action without God? As a result, the legal effectiveness is greatly reduced. Small and medium-sized SMEs often do not understand the San-An Act properly, but can small businesses comply with the Severe Accident Act? In the field, only Lee Hyeonryeongbi Hyeonryeong (耳懸鈴鼻懸鈴) law enforcement is expected to increase.”
Jeong Jin-woo, a professor of safety engineering at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, interviews the JoongAng Ilbo on the afternoon of the 19th at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Gongneung-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul. Reporter Kim Kyung-rok
- In the labor world, it is clamored that workplaces with fewer than 5 employees have been omitted.
- “It means it’s not a sophisticated law. In other words, it means that the law is rough. Small businesses that must be protected first should not be an exception to a sophisticated law. The same applies to the three-year suspension of workplaces with fewer than 50 employees. Because of the sloppy law making, it does not contain legal authenticity.”
Prof. Jeong said, “The major disaster law was born because there was a seed of a total amendment to the sanan law called Kim Yong-gyun method.” He criticized that “sananbeop has become a rag law to the point where you don’t know where to start.” It is said that the Sanan Law was not effective in preventing industrial accidents and eventually led to the enactment of the Serious Disaster Law. (※ The sanan law, which was completely revised in 28 years, has been in effect since January last year.)
- What is the reason the sanan method does not work?
- “In industrial accidents, prevention is key. Prevention is key to the effectiveness of ensuring that companies comply with the law. Despite the full revision, there are many provisions of the Sanan Law that are less realistic. The rules on occupational safety and health standards that contain technical standards, such as the prevention of danger from falling objects, have hardly changed. It is advertised as a full revision, but in reality it is only a show-style revision.”
- Specifically, which part is less realistic?
- “For example, when working with an A-type ladder, workers are required to wear safety belts unconditionally. However, there are many places where safety belts cannot be attached. It is an ambiguous rule that cannot be observed in the field. It is a rule that ignores reality that equipment must be stopped when maintaining machinery. Isn’t it possible to check the problem properly only when the equipment is operated? That way, we can increase the level of safety, but we left these rules as they are.”
A graphic image of the Democratic Party divided after passing the Severe Disaster Act. Reporter Kim Hyun-seo
- The government is promoting the full amendment of the Sanan Law as a labor-related achievement.
- “It should be noted that the laws related to occupational safety are regulatory laws. For regulatory laws, precedents and cases accumulate over time are of paramount importance. If a full revision is made, these precedents become useless. For this reason, there is no country that completely amends the Sanan Law. It’s so dangerous, but it’s frustrating to promote it.”
Professor Jeong argued that “the Severe Accident Act and the Sanitation Act must be revised at the same time,” and “there is a need to create a system that fosters professional manpower to prevent industrial accidents.”
- What is the problem with the revised Sanan Law?
- “The regulation on maintenance is missing from the amendment. Maintenance work is the top priority for industrial accidents. This is because an employee of an outsourcing company, who is not familiar with the facility, works with a fixed point of completion.
- How can you secure an industrial accident prevention system?
- “In Korea, there are 129.85 workers for industrial accident prevention per 1 million workers. It is 6.7 times more than the United States, with 19.17 people. It is more than three times that of Japan. The industrial safety inspector of the Ministry of Employment and Labor more than doubled from 350 in 2016 to 705 last year (as of the end of November). However, industrial accidents did not decrease significantly. The number of deaths from industrial accidents per 10,000 people is more than three times that of Germany. This is evidence that the industrial accident prevention system is regressing. High cost and low effectiveness are sticking.”
- “In Japan, when hiring as an industrial accident supervisor, only supervisory duties are entrusted. The same goes for the UK and the US. However, Korea takes on various tasks in turn. That much less expertise. The private sector has undergone specialization, but the administrative manpower of industrial accidents does not reach it. In the case of Kim Yong-gyun’s accident, the industrial accident evaluation system was applied to public institutions, but it is clamored that only paper (document) work has increased at the site. Professors who are not familiar with industrial safety participate in the evaluation committee.”
- How should I change the Severe Disaster Law?
- “There is no other way than a full revision. Looking at the law, there are few provisions mandated by the Presidential Decree, making it difficult to supplement it with the Presidential Decree. The Severe Accidents Act should be reorganized so that only corporations can be punished, just like the UK’s Corporate Negligence Law. The management of large corporations can change the sanan law’s crude and sloppy penalty system so that it can be punished.”
Reporter Kiheon Kang [email protected]