Serious injury after being displaced for 12 weeks due to fall at construction site...Why is the safety manager not guilty?

On-site safety manager indicted on charges of professional negligence
Judge Jeon Jae-hyeon of the Seongnam Branch of Suwon District Court “There is no proof that the defendant violated his duty of care at work.”

A decision was made to acquit a safety manager who was indicted on charges of neglecting safety management at a construction site, causing a worker to suffer a 12-week injury.

On August 28, Judge Jeon Jae-hyeon of Suwon District Court's Seongnam Branch, Criminal Division 5, sentenced safety manager A, who was indicted on charges of professional negligence, saying, "The defendant is not guilty."

Mr. A worked as an on-site safety manager at a single-family home construction site in 2020. At the time, Mr. B, a daily worker working at the site where Mr. A was in charge, lost his footing and fell to the floor 1.5 meters below while working on attaching plasterboard to the third floor ceiling. In this accident, Mr. B suffered serious injuries, including traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage, requiring 84 days of treatment.

In this case, the key issue was whether Mr. A, the safety manager, had taken all necessary safety measures at the site. The prosecution judged that responsibility for the accident lay with Mr. A, who failed to exercise his duty of care, and indicted him.

However, the court's judgment was different.

Judge Jeon Jae-hyun of the Seongnam Branch of Suwon District Court, who heard this case, said, “It is difficult to say that it has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant violated his duty of care on the job and caused injury to the victim based on the evidence presented by the prosecutor alone,” and ruled, “Since the indictment is a case where there is no proof of a crime, the defendant is acquitted.”

Judge Jeon Jae-hyeon specifically said, "It is possible to say that the defendant fulfilled his duty of care to prevent falls by installing wooden scaffolding on the entire floor before the accident occurred in this case," based on the photos of other buildings at the scene submitted by the defense attorney and the statements of Mr. B's colleagues. “I can see it,” he judged.

He said, “Ultimately, there is a possibility that the work done by the victim at the time this accident occurred was not the work ordered or scheduled, and the possibility that this accident occurred in a way that was difficult for the defendant to predict cannot be ruled out.”

Attorney Na Chang-su of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, said, “In this case, the complaint was filed a year and six months after the incident, and there were many difficulties in obtaining relevant information. We emphasized that safety measures were well implemented by obtaining statements and photos of the scene from colleagues who worked together at the time with difficulty.”

Attorney Na Chang-soo also explained, “Based on these points, the court also appears to have ruled that there was no clear causal relationship between the defendant’s negligence in his duty of care and the accident and declared him not guilty.”

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