[Unofficial Korean-to-English translation provided by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

“South Korea: Contractor CEO charged after worker dies from heatstroke—The first case to apply Serious Accidents Punishment Act to heat stroke,” July 1 2024

The Daejeon District Prosecutor's Office ... has indicted those responsible for the death of a subcontractor worker from heatstroke at a construction site in Daejeon, a metropolis in central South Korea. The prosecutors charged the CEO of the contractor company with violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (SAPA), and the site managers of both the contractor and subcontractor company with violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act....

...In July 2022, a worker in his 50s died of heat stroke while working at a construction site in ...Daejeon. On that day, the city was under a heat warning.

Through the investigation, the prosecution found that the CEO of the contractor company failed to fulfill his duty to ensure workplace safety and occupational health by failing to establish due procedures to identify and mitigate harmful and dangerous factors at workplace.

...The prosecution also accused the site managers of failing to provide workers with the minimum rest breaks, rest areas, and drinks as required by the relevant regulations.

The indictment is the first case in its country which a contractor’s representative has been charged with violating the SAPA in connection with a fatality in workplace due to heat stroke.

In South Korea, Serious Accidents Punishment Act (SAPA), has been enacted in 2022, to prevent serious workplace accidents and other types of harm that can affect the members of the general public.